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PRINCETON,    N.    J. 

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BV    3705    .M3    B44    1881 
Bell,    Charles   Dent. 
Henry  Martyn 

HEROES  OF  CHRISTIAN  HISTORY. 

A  Series  of  Popular  Biographies 

BY 

EMINENT   ENGLISH    AND    AMERICAN    AUTHORS. 
To  be  issued  at  brie/ intervals. 


l2mo  Vols.,  bound  in  cloth.     Price,  75c.  each. 


A  series  of  short  biographies  of  men  eminent  in  religious  his- 
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HENRY  MARTYN.  *" 

By  the  Rev. 

CHARLES  D.  BELL,  M.A.,  D.D., 

Honorary  Canon  of  Carlisle,  and  Rector  of  Cheltenham. 


WILLIAM   WILBERFORCE. 

By  the  Rev. 

JOHN  STOUGHTON,  D.D., 

Author  of  "  Homes  and  Haunts  of  Luther,"  "  History  of  Religion  in 

England,"  etc. 


PHILIP   DODDRIDGE. 

By  the  Rev. 
CHARLES  STANFORD,  D.D., 
Author  of  "  Joseph  Alleine,"  "  Homilies  on  Christian  Work. 


STEPHEN   GRELLET. 

By  the  Rev. 

WILLIAM  GUEST,  F.G.S., 

Author  of  "  Fidelia  Fiske,"  "  The  Young  Man's  Safeguard  in  the  Perils  of 

the  Age,"  etc. 


RICHARD   BAXTER. 

By  the  Rev. 

G.  D.  BOYLE,  Af.A., 

Dean  of  Salisbury,  and  late  Vicar  of  Kidderminster. 


JOHN  KNOX. 

By  the  Rev. 

WILLIAM  M.  TA  YLOR,  D.D., 

Of  New  York, 

Author  of  "  The  Limitations  of  Life,"  etc. 


WILLIAM   CAREY. 

By  the  Rev. 

JAMES  CULROSS,  D.D., 

Author  of  "  The  Disciple  whom  Jesus  Loved. 


ROBERT   HALL.' 

By  the  Rev. 

E.  PAX  TON  HOOD, 

Author  of  *'  The  World  of  Anecdote,"   "  The  Romance  of  Biography,"  etc. 


FLETCHER    OF    MADELEY. 

By  THE  Rev. 
F.  IV.  MACDONALD. 

JOHN  WYCLIFFE. 

By  the  Rev. 

JAMES  FLEMING,  B.D., 

Hon.  Chaplain  to  the  Queen,  Canon  of  York,  and  Vicar  of  St.  Michael's, 

Chester  Square. 


THOMAS  CHALMERS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

By  the  Rev. 

DONALD  ERASER,  D.D., 

Author  of  "  Blending  Lights,"  etc. 


JONATHAN  EDWARDS. 

By  the  Rev. 

H.  SINCLAIR  PA  PERSON,  M.D., 

Author  of  "  Studies  in  Life,"  etc. 


*if*  Copies  sent  by  mail,  post-paid,  on  receipt   of  price. 

New  York:  A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  k  SON,  714  Broadway. 


HENRY    MARTYN. 


BY   THE   REV. 


CHARLES    dXeELL,    D.D., 

Honorary  Cajw7i  of  Carlisle,  and  Rector  of  Cheltenham. 
Author  of  "Night  Scenes  of  the  Bible,"  etc. 


*-' 


NEW  YORK; 
A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND    SON, 

714     BROADWAY. 

MDCCCLXXXI. 

{All  rights  reserved^ 


fSOPERTy  Of 
EI 


3PERTy  or*<<^ 


CONTENTS. 


-^-f^ 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

MARTYN^S  EARLY  LIFE I 


CHAPTER  II. 
CAMBRIDGE 20 

CHAPTER  III. 

MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA    ......        39 

CHAPTER  IV. 

INDIA •        ^3 

CHAPTER  V. 

CAWNPORE 96 

CHAPTER  VI. 

SHIRAZ •  •  .119 

CHAPTER  VII. 

LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH 1 36 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
SELECTIONS  FROM  MARTYN 'S  CORRESPONDENCE  .      1 52 


CHAPTER  I. 

MARTYN'S  EARLY  LII'E, 
[1781— 1802.] 

THERE  are  names  in  ecclesiastical  history  more 
conspicuous  than  his  who  is  the  subject  of  the 
following  memoir ;  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any 
one  of  them  is  more  worthy  of  being  held  in  everlasting 
remembrance.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  none  of  those 
who  sleep  in  the  martyr's  grave,  and  wear  the  martyr's 
crown,  ever  laid  himself  more  willingly  a  living  sacrifice 
on  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  or  more  readily  surrendered 
home  and  country,  love  and  ambition  at  the  call  of  God, 
than  did  Henry  JNIartyn. 

From  the  great  world  without  there  are  borne  to  our 
ears  high-sounding  phrases  about  heroes  and  heroic 
deeds.  If  we  ask  the  world  for  the  man  whom  it  digni- 
fies with  the  title  of  hero,  and  whose  name  it  embalms 
in  its  annals,  it  points  us  to  men  of  high  daring  and  lofty 
enterprise — to  the  victor  on  the  red  field  of  war,  to  the 
patriot  who  defends  the  altars  and  the  hearths  of  his 
native  land.     No  one  can  be  insensible  to  the  charms 

I  B 


2  HENRY  MARTYN. 

that  invest  the  chivalrous  deed  or  the  patriotic  exploit. 
The  heart  must  be  cold  indeed  which  does  not  kindle 
as  it  thinks  of  the  soldier  who  goes  forth  for  no  selfish 
end,  nor  to  weave  the  laurel  round  his  own  brow, 
but  simply  at  the  call  of  his  country,  to  dare  and  to 
endure  only  so  far  as  she  commands,  and  having  accom- 
plished his  mission  returns  home  to  repose  gratefully 
among  the  citizens  whose  rights  he  has  defended,  and 
whose  liberties  he  has  secured.  The  heroic  element 
exists  in  such  a  character,  and  demands  our  warmest 
recognition.  True  greatness  is  not  to  be  measured  by 
cities  ravaged  and  villages  overrun,  that  one  man  may 
set  his  individual  self  on  a  pedestal  which  culminates 
above  the  world;  but  it  is  to  be  looked  for  rather 
through  the  light  of  self-sacrifice,  when  the  strongest 
ties  are  severed,  and  the  fondest  hopes  are  relin- 
quished ;  when  danger  is  braved,  and  toil  endured  that 
others  may  benefit  by  the  peril  that  has  been  en- 
countered, and  the  enjoyment  that  has  been  resigned. 
If  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  enters,  as  it  must,  into 
the  character  of  every  one  w^ho  deserves  the  name  of 
hero,  then  where  are  we  to  turn  for  the  most  striking 
illustrations  of  this  virtue?  Where  shall  we  find  the 
most  touching  records  of  men  who,  with  no  earthly  re- 
ward in  prospect,  with  no  anticipation  of  worldly  honour, 
or  glory,  or  gain,  have  trampled  on  every  selfish  thought, 
content  to  bear  all  that  wrings  the  heart  or  wears  down 
the  frame  ;  yea,  to  be  brought  face  to  face  with  death, 
that  blessings  may  be  secured  to  others  by  their  heroic 


MARTYN'S  EARLY  LIFE. 

self-offering  and  devotion  ?    Not  to  the  red  scutcheon  on 
which  is  emblazoned  the  name  of  the  warrior  ;  not  to  the 
monument  of  marble  or  brass  where  stands  the  form  of 
tlie  statesman ;  nor  to  the  medallion  engraven  with  the 
features  of  the  poet  or  historian,  however  worthy  they 
may  be  of  a  place  in  the  great  heart  of  a  nation's  love : 
but  to    the  records  of  some  noble   missionary  society, 
where  we  read  of  men  who  have  cast  aside  the  ties  of 
country  and  kin,  and  have  hastened  to  polar  snows  or  to 
burning  sands,  that  they  might  carry  the  tidings  of  salva- 
tion to  the  benighted  and  degraded  of  our  race  ;  not 
shrinking  from  death  itself,  but   ''hazarding  their 'lives 
for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ/'     Are  not   a 
Brainerd,  a  Schwartz,  a  Williams,— all  of  them  martyrs 
in  spirit,  and  one  of  them  in  terrible  reality,— deserving 
a  niche  in  the  temple  of  Fame,  and  should  not  thefr 
names  have  a  place  on  the  bead-roll  which  is   conse- 
crated to  those  who  are  benefactors  of  mankind? 

And  Martyn,  who,  though  crowned  with  the  highest 
honours  a  university  could  bestow,  and  distinguished  by 
talents  which  attracted  the  admiration  of  one  of  our 
most  celebrated  seats  of  learning, -Martyn,  who  joyfully 
abandoned  the  shades  of  academic  renown  for  distant 
lands  and  a  burning  clime,  devoting  every  energy  of 
mind  and  body  to  the  service  of  the  Cross,— shall  we  not 
venerate  his  memory,  and  give  him  a  foremost  place  in 
our  honour  and  regard  ?  As  we  advance  in  his  story  it 
will  be  seen  that  he  was  endowed  with  a  patience,  a  for- 
titude, a  humility,  a  love,  a  zeal  for  the  Divine  glory  and 


4  HENRY  MARTYN. 

the  salvation  of  men,  such  as  has  not  been  often  paral- 
leled since  the  days  that  apostles  trod  the  earth,  and 
made  manifest  in  every  place  the  savour  of  the  know- 
ledge of  Christ  Jesus. 

Henry  Martyn  was  born  in  Truro,  in  the  county  of 
Cornwall,  on  the  i8th  of  February,  1781.  He  was  the 
third  child  of  a  numerous  family,  of  whom  two  sons  and 
two  daughters  survived  their  father.  John  Martyn,  the 
father,  was  originally  a  man  of  humble  life,  having  been 
a  working  miner  in  the  mines  of  Gwennap,  the  place 
where  he  was  born.  He  had,  however,  a  large  share  of 
energy,  mental  as  well  as  physical ;  and  he  took  advan- 
tage of  every  period  of  relaxation  from  manual  labour, 
and  devoted  it  to  the  improvement  of  his  mind.  The 
miners  used  to  work  and  rest  alternately  every  four 
hours  ;  and  in  the  hours  of  rest  he  acquired  a  complete 
knowledge  of  arithmetic,  and  some  acquaintance  with 
mathematics.  This  diligence  in  self-culture  obtained  its 
reward.  He  rose  gradually  from  a  state  of  poverty  to 
one  of  comparative  comfort ;  and  being  admitted  into 
the  office  of  Mr.  Daniel,  a  merchant  at  Truro,  he  lived 
there  respected  and  esteemed  by  all  his  acquaintance. 
It  was  while  he  was  chief  clerk  in  this  office  that  his  son 
Henry  was  born,  a  child  of  a  delicate  nature,  for  he,  as 
well  as  the  other  children,  inherited  the  consumptive 
constitution  of  their  mother. 

^^'hen  Henry  was  between  seven  and  eight  years  of 
age,  he  was  placed  by  his  father  at  the  Grammar  School 
in  the  town,  the  master  of  which  was  the  Rev.  Cornelius 


MARTYN'S  EARLY  LIFE.  5 

Cardew,  a  gentleman  of  learning  and  talent.  Little  is 
known  of  his  childhood,  and  we  have  but  a  meagre  ac- 
count of  his  school-days.  He  was  of  a  naturally  gentle 
spirit,  inferior  to  most  of  his  companions  in  bodily 
strength,  of  good  abilides,  but  of  little  application.  "  He 
did  not  fail,"  said  Mr.  Cardew,  soon  after  the  lad  was 
placed  under  his  care,  "  he  did  not  fail  to  answer  the 
expectations  that  had  been  formed  of  him ;  his  pro- 
ficiency in  the  classics  exceeded  that  of  most  of  his 
schoolfellows,  yet  there  were  boys  who  made  a  more 
rapid  progress,  not  perhaps  that  their  abilities  were 
superior,  but  their  application  greater,  for  he  was  of  a 
lively,  cheerful  temper,  and,  as  I  have  been  told  by  those 
who  sat  near  him,  appeared  to  be  the  idlest  amongst 
them,  and  was  frequently  known  to  go  up  to  his  lesson 
with  little  or  no  preparation,  as  if  he  had  learned  it 
merely  by  intuition."  Though  of  a  lively  and  cheerful 
disposition,  he  kept  much  to  himself,  shunned  the 
society  of  the  other  boys,  seldom  took  part  in  their 
sports,  and  as  a  consequence  was  exposed  to  the  ridicule 
and  the  tyranny  of  those  older  or  stronger  than  him- 
self "  Little  Harry  Marty n," — the  name  by  which  he 
usually  went — says  one  of  his  earliest  friends  and  com- 
panions, "  was  in  a  manner  proverbial  among  his  school- 
fellows for  a  peculiar  tenderness  and  inoffensiveness  of 
spirit,  which  exposed  him  to  the  ill  oflices  of  many  over- 
bearing boys;  and  as  there  was  at  times  some  peevishness 
of  manner  when  attacked,  he  was  often  unkindly  treated. 
That  he  might  receive  assistance  in  his  lessons  he  was 


6  HENRY  MARTYN. 

placed  near  one  of  the  upper  boys,  with  whom  he  con- 
tracted a  friendship  which  lasted  through  life,  and  whose 
imagination  readily  recalls  the  position  in  which  he  used 
to  sit,  the  thankful  expression  of  his  affectionate 
countenance  when  he  happened  to  be  helped  out  of 
some  difficulty,  and  a  thousand  litde  incidents  of  his 
boyish  days."  Besides  assisting  him  in  his  studies,  his 
friend,  it  is  added,  ''  had  often  the  happiness  of  rescuing 
him  from  the  grasp  of  oppressors,  and  has  never  seen 
more  feeling  gratitude  than  was  shown  by  him  on  these 
occasions."  It  is  evident  that  even  as  a  boy  he  was  not 
deficient  in  resoluteness  of  will,  for  before  he  reached 
his  fifteenth  year  he  was  induced  to  offer  himself  as  a 
candidate  for  a  vacant  scholarship  at  Corpus  Christi 
College,  Oxford.  Though  so  young,  and  without  any 
interest  in  the  University,  and  with  only  a  single  letter  to 
one  of  the  tutors,  he  went  there  alone,  and  passed  so  good 
an  examination  that  some  of  the  examiners  thought  he 
ought  to  have  been  elected.  In  after  years  he  acknow- 
ledged the  hand  of  God  in  his  failure.  Had  he 
succeeded  in  his  wishes,  the  whole  colour  of  his  after 
life  would  have  been  changed,  and  his  spiritual  well- 
being  hurt  by  his  temporal  success.  He  says  as  much 
in  an  account  prefixed  to  his  private  journal  some  years 
afterwards.  "  Had  I  remained  and  become  a  member 
of  the  University  at  that  time,  as  I  should  have  done  in 
case  of  success,  the  profligate  acquaintance  I  had  there 
would  have  introduced  me  to  a  scene  of  debauchery  in 
which  I  must  in  all  probability,  from  my  extreme  youth, 


MARTYN'S  EARLY  LIFE.  7 

have  sunk  for  ever."  So  he  was  saved  from  a  sphere  in 
which  even  he,  with  all  his  pure  instincts  and  earnest 
aspirations,  would  have  succumbed  to  what  is  base  and 
degrading,  and  like  too  many  others  who  in  their  youth 
have  been  exposed  to  the  fires  of  temptation,  he  would 
have  suffered  his  body  to  become  the  sepulchre  of  his 
soul.  He  was  just  at  that  time  of  life  when  the  character 
is  most  susceptible  of  impressions  for  good  or  evil ;  and 
had  it  been  corrupted  by  those  whose  great  pleasure  it 
is  to  make  the  innocent  as  vile  as  themselves,  he  might 
have  been  trammelled  for  years  in  the  bondage  of  evil, 
and  have  gone  down  to  a  dishonoured  tomb,  wounded 
and  slain  by  the  sins  of  his  youth. 

On  his  failure  to  obtain  the  vacant  scholarship,  he  re- 
turned home,  and  resumed  his  studies  at  Dr.  Cardew's 
school.  Here  he  remained  till  the  June  of  1797.  The 
success  achieved  at  college  by  the  friend  who  had  been 
his  guide  and  protector  at  school,  turned  his  thoughts 
to  the  University  of  Cambridge,  where  that  friend  had 
already  entered  and  was  winning  much  distinction. 
Hoping,  no  doubt,  to  profit  still  by  his  advice  and 
assistance,  he  gave  the  preference  to  Cambridge  over 
Oxford,  and  began  his  residence  at  St.  John's  College 
in  the  month  of  October,  1797. 

His  choice  of  universities  did  not  arise  from  any  taste 
for  mathematics,  for  in  the  autumn  before  he  went  to 
Cambridge  he  spent  a  great  part  of  his  time  with  his  gun 
and  in  reading  books  of  travel  and  Lord  Chesterfield's 
Letters,  to  the   neglect  of  Euclid  and  algebra.     How 


8  HENRY  MARTYN. 

little  knowledge  he  had  of  the  nature  and  methods  of 
mathematics,  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  he 
attempted  to  learn  the  propositions  of  Euclid  by  heart, 
confiding  in  a  retentive  memory,  and  hoping  to  become 
eventually  the  Senior  Wrangler  of  his  year. 

The  first  years  of  Martyn's  college  life  present 
nothing  particular  for  comment.  Happily  for  him  the 
friend  of  his  boyish  days  became  the  counsellor  of  his 
riper  years.  He  alludes  to  this  in  his  journal.  "  During 
the  first  term  I  was  kept  a  good  deal  in  idleness  by 
some  of  my  new  acquaintances,  but  the  kind  attention 

of was  a  principal  means  of  my  preservation  from 

excess."  From  the  place  that  he  obtained  in  the  first 
class  at  the  public  examination  of  his  college  in 
December,  it  is  evident  that  he  gave  some  attention  to 
his  studies,  and  this  early  success,  combined  with  his 
desire  to  gratify  his  father,  encouraged  him  to  increased 
application  and  diligence.  He  had  the  reward  of  this 
at  another  public  examination  in  the  summer,  when  he 
reached  the  second  station  in  the  first  class,  an  honour 
"which  flattered  his  pride  not  a  little." 

His  college  career  was  such  as  to  command  general 
approbation.  He  was  outwardly  moral,  unwearied  in 
his  studies,  and  to  the  eye  of  the  world  his  life  was  in 
the  highest  degree  praiseworthy  and  estimable.  He  was 
ambitious  of  obtaining  honour,  and  displayed  signs  of 
no  ordinary  talent.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the 
excellences  and  virtues  of  his  character  at  this  time, 
truthful  as  he  was,  upright,  clear-headed,  large-hearted, 


MARTYN'S  EARLY  LIFE.  9 

he  was  still  ignorant  of  spiritual  things,  and  was  hving 
*'  without  God   in  the  world."     One   exception   to  the 
general  amiability  of  his  character  was  a  certain  irrita- 
bility of  temper  which  was  natural  to  him,  and  which  had 
been  increased   during  his  younger  days  by  the  tyranny 
and   cruelty  of  his    schoolfellows.       A   sudden   gust  of 
passion  had   on  one  occasion  nearly  brought  the   sin  of 
blood-guiltiness   on  his  soul.     An  acquaintance  had  in 
some   way    excited    his   anger,    and    Martyn,     obeying 
the    first    impulse   of    his  heated    temper,   snatched    a 
knife  and  threw  it  at  the  offender,  not  knowing  but  that 
it  might  be  buried   in  his   heart.     Mercifully  he  missed 
his  aim,  and  the  knife  glancing  past  his   friend  was  left 
quivering  in  the  wall.     Indeed,    this   was  but  one  proof 
amongst  many  that  his  heart  was  far  from  God,  and   that 
he  was  living  the  ignoble  life  of  a  man   whose  thoughts 
and  aspirations  centred  round  self,   and  whose   desires 
were  bounded  by  the  horizon  of  this  world.     His  college 
friend,  whose  mind  was  bent  upon  righteousness,  was 
fortunately  at  hand  to  remind   him   that  God  regards  the 
motives  of  our  actions,  and  to  persuade  him  to  attend  to 
his  studies  from  right  principles,   for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  not   for   the    praise    of  men.     Besides  having  the 
great  blessing  of  a  Christian  friend  in  the  University,  he 
had  also  the  happiness  of  having  a  sister  in    Cornwall 
who  possessed  that  "ornamentof  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit, 
which  in  the  sight  of  God  is   of  great  price.^'     She  was 
of  a  very  heavenly  and  affectionate  mind,  and  often  in 
the  tenderest  manner  urged  upon  her  brother  the  solemn 


lo  HENRY  MARTYN. 

claims  of  God  upon  his  love.  He  paid  a  visit  to  her 
and  to  the  other  members  of  his  family  in  the  summer 
of  the  year  1799,  carrying  with  him  no  small  degree  of 
academical  honour,  though  not  to  the  extent  that  he  had 
fondly  expected.  He  not  only  lost  the  prize  for  themes 
in  his  college,  but  came  out  second  instead  of  first  at 
the  public  examination.  ''  This  double  disappointment 
nettled  him  to  the  quick."  His  sister,  more  anxious  for 
his  highest  interests  than  for  his  success  in  carrying  off 
university  honours,  often  spoke  to  him  on  the  subject 
nearest  her  heart,  and  laid  before  him  the  claims  of 
religion ;  but,  as  he  acknowledges,  "  the  sound  of  the. 
gospel,  conveyed  in  the  admonitions  of  a  sister,  was 
grating  to  my  ears."  The  result  of  her  efforts  was  at 
this  time  anything  but  encouraging,  and  the  love  of  the 
world  prevailed  over  her  tender  exhortations  and  the 
whispers  of  the  still  small  voice  within.  In  after  years 
he  thus  wrote  of  his  state  of  mind  during  this  summer 
vacation :  "  I  do  not  remember  a  time  in  which  the 
wickedness  of  my  heart  rose  to  a  greater  height 
than  during  my  stay  at  home.  The  consummate 
selfishness  and  exquisite  instability  of  my  mind  were 
displayed  in  rage,  malice,  and  envy,  in  pride  and 
vainglory,  and  contempt  of  all,  in  the  harshest  language 
to  my  sister,  and  even  my  father,  if  he  happened  to 
differ  from  my  mind  and  will.  Oh,  what  an  example 
of  patience  and  mildness  was  he!  I  love  to  think  of  his 
excellent  qualities,  and  it  is  frequently  the  anguish  of  my 
heart  that  I  ever  could  be  base  and  wicked  enough  to 


MARTYN'S  EARLY  LIFE.  ii 

pain  him  by  the  sh'ghtest  neglect.  O  my  God  and 
Father,  why  is  not  my  heart  doubly  agonized  at  the  remem- 
brance of  all  my  great  transgressions  against  Thee  ever 
since  I  have  known  Thee  as  such  !  I  left  my  sister  and 
father  in  October,  and  him  I  saw  no  more.  I  promised 
my  sister  that  I  would  read  the  Bible  for  myself,  but  on 
being  settled  in  college  Newton  engaged  all  my  thoughts." 
There  now  came  a  turning-point  in  his  history.  He 
was  arrested  in  the  midst  of  his  thoughtless  and  ambitious 
career  by  an  event  in  his  family  which  came  upon  him 
with  a  crushing  force.  In  the  Christmas  of  1794  he  had 
passed  a  most  successful  examination.  He  was  first 
among  many  competitors,  and  sent  home  the  intelligence 
which  filled  his  father's  heart  with  joy.  He  heard  in 
return  that  his  father  was  delighted  with  his  son's  hon- 
ours, and  was  in  the  highest  spirits  and  the  best  of 
health.  The  following  week  brought  another  letter.  It 
was  in  the  handwriting  ot  his  brother.  When  he  broke 
the  seal  he  learnt  that  his  father  was  dead.  The  sudden, 
the  unexpected,  the  heartrending  news  overwhelmed 
him  with  sorrow.  But  the  sorrow  was  unto  salvation. 
He  was  "  sowing  in  tears  that  he  might  reap  in  joy." 
Bitter  thoughts  of  the  last  vacation  he  had  spent  at  home, 
and  the  pain  he  had  given  his  father,  came  flashing  to 
his  mind,  and  filled  him  with  sad  regrets  and  poignant 
grief.  Never  would  he  see  his  father  more  to  ask  for- 
giveness, or  atone  for  past  ingratitude  by  obedience 
in  the  future.  It  was  too  late.  That  door  was  shut  for 
ever.     Besides  all  this,  thoughts  of  the  world  beyond  the 


12  HENRY  MARTYN. 

grave  forced  themselves  on  his  mind,  and  would  not  be 
stilled.  He,  as  well  as  his  father,  must  pass  through 
"  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death."  His  spirits  were 
affected.  He  became  troubled  and  downcast.  He  lost 
his  pleasure  in  his  old  studies,  and  had  no  heart  to  pur- 
sue them.  He  took  up  his  Bible,  thinking  that  the  con- 
sideration of  religion  was  suitable  to  a  time  so  solemn ; 
and  though  other  books  were  often  allowed  to  engage  his 
attention,  yet  on  the  advice  of  his  friend  he  made  this 
season  of  deep  conviction  of  sin  one  also  of  serious 
reflection.  He  began  his  study  of  the  Bible  with  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  as  being  the  most  interesting  part 
of  the  Bible,  and  was  insensibly  led  on  to  inquire  more 
diligently  into  the  doctrines  of  the  apostles.  With  the 
reading  of  the  Bible  he  began  also  to  use  a  precomposed 
form  of  prayer,  in  which  he  thanked  God  in  general 
terms  for  having  sent  Christ  into  the  world.  But  though 
he  prayed  for  pardon,  he  had  little  sense  of  his  own 
sinfulness,  and  indeed  was  so  self-satisfied  that  he  began 
to  consider  himself  a  religious  man.  The  first  time  he 
went  to  the  college  chapel  he  was  struck  by  the  expres- 
sions of  joy  which  occur  in  the  "Magnificat"  at  the 
coming  of  a  Saviour.  These  had  fallen  on  a  listless  and 
inattentive  ear  before.  While  he  was  in  this  mood,  his 
friend  lent  him  Doddridge's  "  Rise  and  Progress  of  Reli- 
gion in  the  Soul."  The  opening  part  of  the  book  he 
disliked,  because  he  thought  it  made  religion  consist  too 
much  in  humiliation,  and  his  proud  heart  could  not  bear 
to  be  brought  down  to  tlie  dust. 


MARTYN'S  EARLY  LIFE.  13 

Soon  after  Henry  had  been  called  to  pass  through 
the  furnace  of  affliction,  the  public  exercises  began 
in  the  University;  and  although  the  loss  of  his  father 
had  taken  away  the  great  incentive  to  exertion,  he 
again  devoted  himself  to  his  mathematical  studies  with 
unwearied  perseverance.  His  name  stood  first  upon  the 
list  at  the  college  examination  in  the  summer  of  the  year 
1800.  He  announced  his  success  in  a  letter  to  his  sis- 
ter, which  from  its  whole  tone  must  have  filled  her  heart 
with  joy.     "What  a  blessing  it  is  for  me  that  I  have 

such  a  sister  as   you,  my  dear ,  who  have  been  so 

instrumental  in  keeping  me  in  the  right  way."  . 
"How  I  rejoice  to  find  that  we  disagreed  only  about 
words!  1  did  not  doubt,  as  you  suppose,  at  all 
about  that  joy  which  true  believers  feel.  Can  there  be 
any  one  subject,  any  one  source  of  cheerfulness  and  joy, 
at  all  to  be  compared  with  the  heavenly  serenity  and 
comfort  which  such  a  person  must  find  in  holding  com- 
munion with  his  God  and  Saviour  in  prayer,  in  address- 
ing God  as  his  Father ;  and  more  than  all  in  the  trans- 
porting hope  of  being  preserved  unto  everlasting  life, 
and  of  singing  praises  to  his  Redeemer  when  time  shall 
be  no  more  !  Oh,  I  do  indeed  feel  this  state  of  mind  at 
times  ;  but  at  other  times  I  feel  quite  humbled  at  find- 
ing myself  so  cold  and  hard-hearted."  ..."  With 
respect  to  the  dealings  of  the  Almighty  with  me,  you 
have  heard  in  general  the  chief  of  my  account;  as  I  am 
brought  to  a  sense  of  things  gradually,  there  is  nothing 
peculiarly  striking  in  it  to  particularize.     After  the  death 


14  HENRY  MARTYN. 

of  our  father,  you  know  I  was  extremely  low-spirited, 
and,  like  most  other  people,  began  to  consider  seriously, 
without  any  particular  determination,  that  invisible  world 
to  which  he  was  gone,  and  to  which  I  must  one  day  go. 
Yet  still  I  read  the  Bible  unenlightened,  and  said  a 
prayer  or  two,  rather  through  terror  of  a  superior  power 
than  from  any  other  cause.  Soon,  however,  I  began  to 
attend  more  diligently  to  the  words  of  our  Saviour  in 
the  New  Testament,  and  to  devour  them  with  delight. 
When  the  offers  of  mercy  and  forgiveness  were  made  so 
freely,  I  supplicated  to  be  made  partaker  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  with  eagerness  and  hope ;  and  thanks  be 
to  the  ever-blessed  Trinity  for  not  leaving  me  without 
comfort.  Throughout  the  whole,  however,  even  when 
the  light  of  Divine  truth  was  beginning  to  dawn  on  my 
mind,  I  was  not  under  the  great  terror  of  future  punish- 
ment which  I  see  plainly  I  had  every  reason  to  feel. 
I  look  back  now  upon  that  course  of  wickedness  which, 
like  a  gulf  of  destruction,  yawned  to  swallow  me  up,  with 
a  trembling  delight,  mixed  with  shame  at  having  lived  so 
long  in  ignorance  and  error  and  blindness.     I  could  say 

more,    my   dear  ,    but  I  have  no   more   room.     I 

have  only  to  express  my  acquiescence  in  viost  of  your 
opinions,  and  to  join  with  you  in  gratitude  to  God  for 
His  mercies  to  us.  May  He  preserve  you,  and  me,  and 
all  of  us  to  the  day  of  the  Lord  !  " 

How  cheering  must  such  a  letter  have  been  to  such  a 
sister  in  her  season  of  deep  affliction  !  How  happy  for 
Martyn  himself  that  he  could  thus  freely  make  known 


MARTYN'S  EARLY  LIFE.  15 

the  workings  of  his  heart  to  a  relative  so  wise  and  affec- 
tionate, and  who  had  drunk  so  deeply  into  the  spirit  of 
Christ.  At  this  time  he  also  began  to  attend  the  minis- 
try of  that  eminent  man  of  God,  the  Rev.  Charles 
Simeon,  Vicar  of  Trinity  Church,  Cambridge  ;  and  under 
his  valuable  teaching  he  "gradually  acquired,"  to  use 
his  own  words,  "more  knowledge  in  Divine  things." 

Before  the  close  of  his  academical  career  Martyn 
attained  the  eminence  on  which  from  his  first  entrance 
into  college  his  ambition  had  been  fixed.  He  had 
toiled  with  such  unflagging  diligence,  in  the  hope  of 
reaching  this  place  of  distinguished  merit,  that  he  was 
known  in  his  college  as  "  the  man  that  had  not  lost  an 
hour."  His  ambition  and  industry  were  rewarded,  and 
before  he  completed  his  20th  year  the  highest  honour 
the  University  can  bestow  was  conferred  upon  the 
youthful  student,  and  he  came  out  as  Senior  Wrangler, 
in  the  January  of  1801.  There  was  that  year  an  un- 
usually large  number  of  able  competitors,  and  no  doubt 
he  amongst  the  others  felt  anxious  about  the  issue,  but 
the  recollection  of  a  sermon  which  he  had  lately  heard 
calmed  and  composed  his  mind.  The  text  was, — • 
"Seekest  thou  great  things  for  thyself?  Seek  them  not, 
saith  the  Lord."  Entering  with  the  full  and  free  exercise 
of  his  powers  into  the  examination,  his  decided  supe- 
riority in  mathematics  was  soon  made  evident.  Yet  in 
the  very  hour  of  successful  ambition,  he  felt  how  utterly 
incompetent  is  anything  earthly  to  satisfy  the  wants  of 
the  soul.     There  is  a  sense  of  dissatisfaction  underlying 


16  HENRY  MARTYN, 

the  highest  of  earthly  distinctions.  The  curse  of  barren- 
ness is  upon  them  all.  There  are  yearnings  in  the  human 
heart  which  the  husks  of  the  world  cannot  meet  and 
fulfil.  What  were  the  feelings  of  the  successful  candidate 
on  the  occasion?  "I  obtained  my  highest  wishes,  but 
was  surprised  to  find  I  had  grasped  a  shadow."  The 
confession  of  Kirke  White  to  an  intimate  friend  after  a 
similar  triumph  at  Cambridge,  may  be  well  placed  side 
by  side  with  that  of  Henry  Martyn.  "  Were  I  to  paint," 
he  says,  "  a  picture  of  Fame  crowning  a  distinguished 
undergraduate,  after  the  Senate  House  examination,  I 
would  represent  her  as  concealing  a  Death's  head  under 
a  mask  of  beauty."  Poor  White  fell  an  early  victim  to 
his  consuming  thirst  for  academic  distinction.  He 
entered  the  arena  of  competition  with  the  seeds  of  death 
already  sown  in  his  frame  through  protracted  hours  of 
study,  and  found  in  the  place  to  which  he  so  long 
looked  forward  with  hope,  ''only  a  hot-bed  to  ripen 
them." 

Having  finished  his  undergraduate  course,  Henry 
Martyn  went  down  in  the  month  of  March  to  Cornwall, 
where,  amidst  the  congratulations  of  all  his  friends,  his 
.youngest  sister  was  alone  dejected,  because  she  did  not 
see  in  him  that  progress  in  the  Divine  life  which  she  had 
been  fondly  led  to  anticipate.  Tremblingly  alive  as  she 
was  to  his  highest  interests,  she  longed  for  his  more 
thorough  dedication  to  God,  and  his  more  entire  conse- 
cration to  the  service  of  Christ.  She  urged  upon  his  heart 
and  upon  his  conscience  the  solemn  sanctions  of  the  gospel. 


MARTYN'S  EARLY  LIFE.  17 

and  prayed  him  to  "  forget  the  things  that  were  behind, 
and  to  reach  fortli  unto  those  things  that  were  before." 

He  returned  to  Cambridge  in  the  summer  of  the 
same  year,  and  spent  the  long  vacation  most  profitably ; 
and  being  constrained  to  be  much  alone,  he  employed 
his  solitary  hours  in  meditation  with  himself,  and  in 
communion  with  God.  He  now  experienced  "a  real 
pleasure  in  religion,"  being  more  deeply  "convinced  of  sin 
than  before,  more  earnest  in  fleeing  to  Jesus  for  refuge, 
and  more  desirous  for  the  renewal  of  his  nature."  It  was 
during  this  vacation  that  he  became  personally  known  to 
Mr.  Simeon,  with  whom  he  henceforth  enjoyed  the  most 
friendly  intercourse,  and  for  whom  he  entertained  the 
most  grateful,  reverential,  and  filial  regard.  On  all 
important  occasions  he  sought  his  counsel,  and  received 
in  return  the  most  fatherly  advice  and  encouragement. 
Through  Mr.  Simeon's  kindness  he  was  introduced  to 
several  young  men  of  Christian  principles,  with  whom  he 
formed  a  lasting  friendship  ;  and  through  Mr.  Simeon's 
influence  his  mind  was  turned  to  the  transcendent 
privileges  of  the  gospel  ministry.  Up  to  this  time  he 
had  determined  to  apply  himself  to  the  study  of  the  law, 
"chiefly,"  as  he  confesses,  "because  he  could  not  con- 
sent to  be  poor  for  Christ's  sake ; "  but  now  he  resolved 
to  take  holy  orders,  and  to  become  an  ambassador  for 
Christ. 

His  steady  advance  in  the  Christian  life  is  seen  from 
his  correspondence  widi  his  sister,  and  with  his  earHcst 
friend,  the   whole   tone   of  his  letters  proving  that  hia 

c 


i8  HENRY  MARTYN. 

"affections,"  were  "set  on  things  above."  He  mentions 
in  a  letter  to  his  sister  an  incident  which  shows  the 
firmness  and  boldness  of  his  confession  of  Christ  before 
men.     "  I  have  lately,"  he  writes,  "  been  witness  to  a 

scene   of  distress.     in   this   town,   with   whom   I 

have  been  little  acquainted,  and  who  had  lived  to  the 
full  extent  of  his  income,  is  now  dying,  and  his  family 
will  be  left  perfectly  destitute.  I  called  yesterday  to  ! 
know  whether  he  was  still  alive,  and  found  his  wife  in  a 
greater  agony  than  you  can  conceive.  She  was  wringing 
her  hands,  and  crying  out  to  me,  '  Oh  pray  for  his 
soul ; '  and  then  again  recollecting  her  own  helpless 
condition,  and  telling  me  of  her  wretchedness  in  being 
turned  out  upon  the  wide  world  without  house  or  home. 
It  was  in  vain  to  point  to  heaven — the  heart  distracted 
and  overwhelmed  with  worldly  sorrow  finds  it  hard  to 
look  to  God.     Since  writing  this,  I  have  been  to  call  on 

the  daughters  of ,  who    had   removed  to   another 

house,  because  from  the  violence  of  their  grief  they 
incommoded  the  sick  man.  Thither  I  went  to  meet 
them,  with  my  head  and  heart  full  of  the  subject  I  was 
come  upon.  I  was  surprised  to  find  them  cheerful,  and 
thunderstruck  to  see  a  gownsman  reading  a  play  to  them. 
A  play,  when  their  father  was  lying  in  the  agonies  of 
death  !  What  a  species  of  consolation  !  I  rebuked 
so  sharply,  and,  I  am  afraid,  so  intemperately,  that  a 
quarrel  will  perhaps  ensue." 

His  fears  were  groundless,  and  his  plain  speaking  was 
honoured  of  God.     It  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 


MARTYN'S  EARLY  LIFE.  19 

young  gownsman.  He  not  only  thanked  Marty n  for  his 
faithfulness,  but  he  became  an  altered  man,  and  in  after 
years  they  both  laboured  in  India  together  in  the  further- 
ance of  the  kingdom  of  their  common  Master  and 
Redeemer. 


CHAPTER  IT. 

CAMBRIDGE. 
[1802—5.] 

BEFORE  Martyn  finished  his  academical  career,  he 
won  fresh  honours.  In  the  March  of  1802  he 
was  chosen  Fellow  of  St.  John's,  and  very  shortly  after- 
wards he  was  awarded  the  first  prize  for  the  best  Latin 
prose  composition,  "  a  distinction  the  more  remarkable," 
says  his  biographer,  "  as  from  his  entrance  into  the 
University  he  had  directed  an  unceasing  and  almost 
undivided  attention  to  mathematics.  But  the  honour 
which  cometh  from  man  now  occupied  but  a  secondary 
place  in  his  mind,  and  he  made  rapid  attainments  in 
grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Having  gained  honour  after  honour  he  left  Cambridge 
for  a  visit  to  his  relatives  in  Cornwall,  making  a  walking 
tour  through  Wenlock,  Liverpool,  and  the  Vale  of  Llan- 
gollen. He  kept  a  journal  of  his  tour,  which,  though 
briefly  and  hastily  written,  shows  that  God  was  in  all  his 
thoughts,  and  evinces  great  spirituality  of  mind.  When 
he  reached  his  home  he  spent  many  delightful  days  in 
the  bosom  of  his  family.  The  affection  of  his  friends  ; 
the  happy  intercourse  with  his  sister  on  the  things  dearest 


CAMBRIDGE,  21 

to  his  heart ;  his  hours  of  private  devotion ;  his  daily- 
study  of  the  Word  of  God,  all  contributed  to  his  enjoy- 
ment. These  days  left  for  a  long  time  "  a  fragrancy 
upon  his  mind,  and  the  remembrance  of  them  was 
sweet." 

In  the  beginning  of  October,  1802,  the  romantic 
scenery  of  Cornwall ;  the  tranquillity  of  Woodbury,  where 
his  brother-in-law  resided  ;  the  sacred  retirement  and  the 
agreeable  intercourse  with  friends,  were  exchanged  for 
the  more  arduous  engagements  of  university  life. 

The  close  of  this  year  was  a  remarkable  one  in  Mar- 
ty n's  history.  He  had  already  dedicated  himself  to  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel;  but  now  he  was  to  give  new 
proofs  of  his  eminent  devotion,  and  fresh  evidences  of 
his  faith  and  love.  The  call  to  what  was  to  be  his  life- 
work  was  now  heard  and  obeyed.  He  was  one  day  in 
the  company  of  Mr.  Simeon,  when  that  good  man  made 
some  remarks  on  the  untold  benefits  which  had  resulted 
from  the  services  of  a  single  missionary.  The  missionary 
alluded  to  was  Dr.  Carey,  in  whose  heart  the  love  of 
Christ  burned  strong  and  brightly,  and  who  went  forth 
in  the  strength  of  God  to  Hindostan,  that  he  might  assail 
the  mightiest  stronghold  of  idolatry  ever  framed  by  the 
great  adversary  of  souls.  Martyn's  attention  was  at  once 
arrested;  the  vast  importance  of  the  missionary  cause 
flashed  upon  his  mind,  and  his  soul  was  stirred  to  its 
depths  at  the  thought  of  the  perishing  millions  who  were 
without  God,  without  Christ,  and  without  hope  in  the 
world. 


22  HENRY  MARTY N. 

Soon  after  this  he  read  the  life  of  David  Brainerd, 
who,  having  laboured  with  remarkable  success  amongst 
the  North  American  Indians,  died  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-two,  rejoicing  with  a  "joy  unspeakable,  and  full  of 
glory."  Martyn  was  much  struck  with  Brainerd's  bio- 
graphy, and,  filled  with  a  holy  emulation,  resolved  to 
follow  the  noble  example  of  a  man  who  "jeoparded  his 
life  unto  the  death  on  the  high  places  "  of  the  mission 
field.  The  determination  was  made  in  no  light  or 
empty  spirit.  He  had  a  heart  warmly  attached  to  home, 
and  friends,  and  country.  He  loved  the  refined  enjoy- 
ments of  social  and  literary  life.  He  knew  the  extent  of 
the  sacrifice  he  was  called  upon  to  make,  and  the  trials 
he  must  undergo.  He  was  no  quixotic  enthusiast,  no 
wild  adventurer  ;  but  he  sat  down  and  counted  the  cost, 
and  was  enabled  to  relinquish  much  that  made  life  sweet 
and  home  dear,  that  he  might,  like  the  brave  apostle  of 
old,  "  preach  amongst  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ."  So  he  resolved  to  sever  home  associa- 
tions ;  to  abandon  the  attractions  of  a  brilliant  career  in 
England,  and  the  companionship  of  attached  friends,  and 
to  go  forth  to  a  foreign  land,  to  toil  amongst  the  ignorant 
and  degraded,  and  to  lead  a  life  of  comparative  isolation, 
and  void  of  sympathy  and  affection.  But  as  he  weighed 
the  gain  and  the  loss,  he  threw  into  the  latter  scale  the 
glory  of  the  Saviour  which  might  be  promoted  through  his 
devotion  to  such  a  cause,  and  the  imperishable  interests 
of  immortal  souls,  and  the  plain  command  of  the  Master : 
"Go  ye,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the 


CAMBRIDGE.  23 

name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  The  hour  of  decision  was  one  of  extreme 
anguish,  and  at  times  the  struggle  amounted  to  agony. 
But  as  he  was  influenced  by  the  highest  motives,  he 
chose  the  thorny  path  of  self-denial  to  the  easier  one  of 
self-indulgence,  and  he  offered  himself  as  a  missionary  to 
the  "Society  for  Missions  to  Africa  and  the  East"— now 
known  under  the  name  of  "The  Church  Missionary 
Society," — a  noble  society  and  a  great,  and  one  largely 
owned  of  God  in  making  the  moral  "  wildernesses  glad," 
and  the  spiritual  " deserts "  to  "rejoice  and  blossom  as 
the  rose." 

His  letters  to  his  youngest  sister  written  after  he  had 
taken  this  decided  step,  show  with  what  varied  feelings 
he  anticipated  the  sacrifices  he  must  make,  and  the  diffi- 
culties he  might  encounter.  "  The  dejection  I  sometimes 
labour  under  seems  not  to  arise  from  doubts  of  my  ac- 
ceptance with  God,  though  it  tends  to  produce  them  ; 
nor  from  desponding  views  of  my  own  backwardness  in 
the  Divine  life,  for  I  am  more  prone  to  self-dependence 
and  conceit ;  but  from  the  prospect  of  the  difficulties  I 
have  to  eiicounter  in  the  tvhole  of  my  future  life.  The 
thought  that  I  must  be  unceasingly  employed  in  the 
same  kind  of  work  amongst  poor  ignorant  people,  is  what 
my  proud  spirit  revoHs  at.  To  be  obliged  to  submit  to 
a  thousand  uncomfortable  things  that  must  happen  to 
me,  whether  as  a  minister  or  a  missionary,  is  what  the 
flesh  cannot  endure."  We  find  the  following  account  of 
the  state  of  his  mind  at  this  time,  his  internal  struggles, 


24  HENRY  MARTYN. 

and  his  sore  and  agonizing  conflict.  "  I  was  under  dis- 
quiet at  the  prospect  of  my  future  work,  encompassed 
with  difficulties ;  but  I  trusted  I  was  under  the  guidance 

of  Infinite  wisdom,   and   on  that   I  could  rest.     , 

who  had  returned  from  a  mission,  observed  that  the 
crosses  to  be  endured  were  far  greater  than  can  be  con- 
ceived ;  "  but  none  of  these  things  move  me,  neither 
count  I  my  life  dear  unto  me  so  that  I  might  finish  my 
course  with  joy."  .  .  .  "Had  some  disheartening 
thoughts  at  night,  at  the  prospect  of  being  stripped  of 
every  earthly  comfort;  but  who  is  it  that  maketh  my 
comforts  to  be  a  source  of  enjoyment?  Cannot  the 
same  make  cold,  and  hunger,  and  nakedness,  and  peril 
to  be  a  train  of  ministering  angels  conducting  me  to 
glory  ?  "  "  Oh  my  soul,  compare  thyself  with  St.  Paul, 
and  with  the  example  and  precepts  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Was  it  not  His  meat  and  drink  to  do  the 
will  of  His  Heavenly  Father  ? "  Again  he  writes : 
"Finished  the  account  of  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  and  longed 
to  be  sent  to  China.  But  I  may  reasonably  doubt  the 
reality  of  every  gracious  affection  :  they  are  so  like  the 
morning  cloud,  and  transient  as  the  early  dew.  If  I  had 
the  true  love  of  souls,  I  should  long  and  labour  for  those 
around  me,  and  afterwards  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen." 

His  journals  betray  a  mind  full  of  self-abasement,  and 
somewhat  morbidly  introspective,  yet  with  the  highest 
aspirations  after  holiness  and  God.  He  had  great  ten- 
derness of  conscience,  and  though  no  saint  or  sinner  can 


CAMBRIDGE. 


25 


be  lowly  enough  in  his  own  eyes,  yet  he  was  too  much 
disposed  to  self-accusation  and  condemnation,  and  to 
*' write  bitter  things"  of  his  spiritual  condition.  His 
friends  saw  a  grace  in  his  character  of  which  he  was 
unconscious.  As  with  Moses  when  he  left  the  mount  of 
God,  "  the  glory  of  his  face  was  visible  to  every  one  but 
himself." 

In  Ely  Cathedral,  in  the  October  of  1803,  Henry 
Martyn  was  ordained  as  deacon  to  Mr.  Simeon's  curacy. 
He  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  responsibility  of  his 
ordination  vows,  and  would  have  been  overwhelmed  by 
the  weight  of  his  charge  had  he  not  leaned  on  the 
strength  of  Him  who,  before  He  returned  to  the  bosom  of 
the  Father,  left  the  promise  to  His  disciples,  "  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  That 
which  was  the  comfort  of  Poly  carp  as  a  bishop  was  his 
consolation  as  a  deacon,— that  "  he  who  was  constituted 
overseer  of  the  church  was  himself  overlooked  by  Jesus 
Christ,  that  in  the  discharge  of  his  office  as  pastor  of  the 
flock,  he  was  under  the  gracious  superintendence  of  that 
great  and  good  Shepherd  who  had  laid  down  His  life  for 
the  sheep." 

The  zeal  for  God  so  apparent  in  his  character,  and 
which  raised  him  above  that  natural  timidity  which 
would  have  restrained  him  from  rebuking  others,  was  at 
this  time  conspicuously  displayed.  Seeing  with  pain  and 
sorrow  one  of  the  candidates  for  ordination  careless  and 
unconcerned  on  an  occasion  so  sacred,  he  admonished 
him,  though  a  stranger,   privately  on  the  subject.     How 


26  HENRY  MARTYN, 

he,  who  was  so  impressed  by  the  solemnity  of  his  ordin- 
ation vows,  would  offer  the  rebuke  which  he  felt  called 
to  administer,  may  be  readily  conceived.  Reproof  was 
to  him  a  duty  of  insuperable  difficulty  ;  "  but,"  said  he, 
"  the  way  to  know  when  to  address  men  and  when  to 
abstain  is  to  love.''  He  resolved  "  not  to  reprove  others 
except  he  experienced  at  the  time  a  peculiar  contrition 
of  spirit  where  he  could  conscientiously  be  silent," 

His  pastoral  duties  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
Cambridge,  were  combined  with  the  charge  of  the  parish 
of  Lolworth,  a  small  village  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
University.  There  it  was,  on  the  Sunday  after  his  ordin- 
ation, that  he  preached  his  first  sermon  from  the  words  : 
"  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?  All  the  days  of  my 
appointed  time  will  I  wait,  till  my  change  come."  On 
the  Sunday  following  he  preached  again  at  the  same 
place  j  and  when  the  service  was  ended,  and  he  was  on 
his  way  back  to  Cambridge,  an  incident  occurred,  which 
must  have  made  an  abiding  impression  on  his  mind. 
"An  old  man,  who  had  been  one  of  his  hearers,  walked 
by  the  side  of  his  horse  for  a  considerable  time,  warning 
him  to  reflect  that  if  any  souls  perished  through  his 
neglect,  their  blood  would  be  required  at  his  hand. 
He  exhorted  him  to  show  his  hearers  that  they  were 
perishing  sinners  ;  to  be  much  engaged  in  secret  prayer  ; 
and  to  labour  after  an  entire  departure  from  himself  to 
Christ." 

On  November  loth,  he  preached  for  the  first  time  at 
Trinity  Church  to  a   numerous   and   attentive    congre- 


CAMBRIDGE.  27 

gation  from  the  Saviour's  words  to  the  woman  of 
Samaria  :  "  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is 
that  saith  unto  thee,  Give  me  to  drink ;  thou  wouldest 
have  asked  of  Him,  and  He  would  have  given  thee  living 
water."  The  fervour  of  his  spirit,  and  the  earnestness  of 
his  manner  deeply  impressed  the  congregation,  who  felt 
that  it  was  given  him,  by  the  grace  of  God, 

**  To  preach  as  one  who  ne'er  should  preach  again, 
And  as  a  dying  man  to  dying  men." 

And  this  was  the  usual  style  of  his  preaching ;  and 
whether  he  spoke  to  the  learned  and  refined,  or  to  the 
poor  and  ignorant, — whether  the  congregation  was  large 
or  small,  he  spoke  as  one  who  had  a  message  to  them 
from  God,  and  whose  heart  thrilled  under  the  consider- 
ation that  both  he  and  they  must  shortly  stand  before 
the  judgment-seat  of  Christ. 

"  The  burdens  and  difficulties  of  his  sacred  employ- 
ments," his  biographer  tells  us,  '*  lay  heavily  at  first  on 
his  mind,  and  considerably  depressed  his  spirits  ;"  "  but 
he  endeavoured,"  he  writes,  in  a  letter  to  his  earliest 
friend,  "  to  keep  in  view  the  unreasonableness  of  his 
discontent  (who  was  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire), 
and  the  glorious  blessedness  of  the  ministerial  work." 
In  addition  to  the  duties  which  had  now  become  his 
peculiar  care  and  delight,  and  in  which  he  was  ever 
"steadfast  and  unmovable,"  an  office  of  another  kind 
devolved  on  him  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1803. 
He  became  one  of  the  public  examiners  in  his  college ; 


28  HENRY  MARTYN. 

and  he  entered  upon  his  new  duties  in  the  same  Christian 
spirit  that  characterized  all  his  actions,  ever  obeying  the 
apostolic  injunction,  "Whatsoever  ye  do  in  word  or 
deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  His 
journals  at  this  period  of  his  life  show  how  watchful  he 
was  over  himself;  how  earnest  in  prayer ;  how  holy  in 
aim  ;  and  how  bent  on  the  great  duty  of  "  pressing 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus."  "  As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water- 
brooks,"  so  did  his  soul  pant  after  the  living  God. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1804,  Martyn's  expecta- 
tions of  becoming  a  missionary  seemed  on  the  point  of 
being  disappointed  through  the  loss  of  all  his  property, 
a  loss  all  the  more  trying  because  his  youngest  sister 
was  involved  in  the  same  trial.  Independently  of  his 
own  pecuniary  resources  being  thus  cut  off,  he  doubted 
whether  it  were  justifiable  to  leave  his  sister  in  a  dis- 
tress which  his  presence  in  England  might  alleviate  or 
remove.  Undecided  as  to  what  he  ought  to  do,  he  left 
Cambridge  for  London  at  the  end  of  June,  in  order  to 
consult  some  of  his  friends  and  obtain  their  advice. 

It  had  for  some  time  appeared  desirable  to  those  who 
took  a  lively  interest  in  himself  and  his  work,  that  he 
should  be  appointed  to  an  Indian  chaplaincy  under  the 
East  India  Company.  His  friends  thought  him  to  be 
peculiarly  fitted  for  such  a  post,  and  the  unexpected 
change  which  had  taken  place  in  his  circumstances 
made  them  more  anxious  if  possible  than  before  to 
secure   for  him  such   an   appointment.     They  were  not 


CAMBRIDGE.  29 

without  hopes  that  the  Mission  Church  at  Calcutta  might 
be  placed  under  his  pastoral  superintendence.  At  first 
there  were  insuperable  difficulties  to  this  arrangement, 
and  "  a  veil  was  cast  over  his  future  proceedings."  Un- 
able to  see  as  yet  the  leadings  of  God's  providence,  he 
returned  to  Cambridge  to  resume  his  ministry  there  with 
singleness  of  eye  and  fervour  of  spirit,  but  with  an 
anxious  and  heavy  heart.  He  gave  himself  unweariedly 
to  his  Master's  service,  preaching,  praying,  warning  the 
wicked,  exhorting  the  careless,  edifying  the  believer ; 
visiting  the  poor,  the  afflicted,  and  the  dying ;  passing 
many  an  hour  in  the  hospital  or  almshouse  ;  thus  doing 
the  work  of  an  evangelist,  and  making  it  his  meat  and 
drink  to  do  his  Heavenly  Father's  will. 

"His  care  was  fixed 
To  fill  his  od'rous  lamp  with  deeds  of  light, 
And  hope  that  reaps  not  shame. " 

Nor  was  his  labour  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  God  blessed 
the  word  through  his  mouth,  and  he  was  made  instru- 
mental in  *'  opening  the  blind  eye,  and  turning  men  from 
darkness  unto  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God."  Much  of  his  pleasure  rose  out  of  the  happy 
privilege  of  being  an  ambassador  for  Christ.  "  At  church 
this  morning,"  he  says,"  "  my  heart  was  overflowing  with 
love  and  joy.  During  the  sermon,  which  was  an  ex- 
hortation to  diligence,  a  sense  of  my  unprofitableness 
depressed  me.  But  in  my  ride  to  Lolworth,  I  enjoyed 
much  delight;  every  breeze  seemed  to  breathe  love  into 


30  HENRY  MARTYN. 

my  heart ;  and  while  I  surveyed  the  landscape,  I  looked 
forward  to  the  day  when  all  nations  should  come  to  the 
mountain  of  the  Lord's  house." 

The  duties  of  a  public  examiner  in  St.  John's  were  now, 
in  the  month  of  June,  for  the  second  time  consigned 
to  Mr.  Martyn  \  the  subjects  for  examination  being  one 
from  the  classics,  the  other,  "  Locke's  Treatise  on  the 
Understanding."  It  soon  became  evident  that  his  wishes 
would  be  crowned  with  success,  and  that  he  would  be 
appointed  to  a  chaplaincy  in  the  service  of  the  East 
India  Company.  He  had  become  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Grant  and  some  other  good  men  then  on  the  Board 
of  Directors ;  and  anxious  as  they  were  that  the  gospel 
should  be  carried  to  Hindostan,  they  gladly  sent  him 
the  intelligence  of  his  appointment,  informing  him  at  the 
same  time  that  he  was  to  leave  England  in  the  spring. 
In  the  long  vacation  he  visited  Cornwall,  never  expect- 
ing to  see  it  again  ;  and,  bound  as  he  was  to  his  native 
place  by  the  ties  of  family  and  friendship,  three  months 
flew  quickly  by  in  sweet  intercourse  with  those  so  dear. 
He  had  other  ties  to  Cornwall  than  those  connected  with 
his  own  family,  if  not  closer,  yet  of  a  tenderer  and 
stronger  kind.  He  had  formed  an  attachment  for  one 
of  whom  his  biographer  says  :  "  Less  ought  not,  and 
more  cannot  be  said,  than  that  she  was  worthy  of  him;" 
an  attachment  which,  whether  he  thought,  as  he  after- 
wards did,  that  it  should  be  encouraged,  or  as  he  now 
did  from  peculiar  circumstances,  that  it  ought  to  be  re- 
pressed, equally  exhibits  him  as  a  man  of  God,  whose 


CAMBRIDGE.  3, 

affections  were  set  on  things  above,  and  not  on  things 
on  the  earth. 

He  was  very  anxious  on  this  his  last  visit  to  Cornwall, 
and  the  first  since  his  ordination,  to  testify  the  grace  of 
God  by  proclaiming  the  reality  of  those  truths  which  were 
the  stay  of  his  own  soul,  and  whose  worth  he  desired  to 
make  known  to  others.  But  there  was  a  great  prejudice 
in  those  days  against  evangelical  doctrines ;  they  were 
regarded  as  something  new  and  strange,  and  associated 
with  an  ill-regulated  and  enthusiastic  mind;  and  the 
only  churches  open  to  him  were  the  two  under  his 
brother-in-law's  charge.  In  these  pulpits  he  preached 
frequently;  and  here  both  his  sisters  heard  him,— the 
younger  with  great  delight,  and  the  elder  with  every 
appearance  of  having  been  deeply  impressed  by  his 
sermons.  "I  found,"  said  he,  "that  she  had  been 
deeply  affected,  and  from  her  conversation  I  received 
great  satisfaction.  In  the  evening  I  walked  by  the 
water  side  till  late,  having  my  heart  full  of  praise  to  God 
for  having  given  me  such  hopes  of  my  sister." 

The  churches  where  he  preached  were  crowded  with 
eager  hearers;  the  common  people  flocked  there  in 
numbers,  and  heard  him  gladly.  At  Kenwyn  the  church 
was  so  full  that  many  could  get  no  nearer  than  the  doors, 
and  many  were  compelled  to  go  away.  This  exceeding 
popularity  humbled  rather  than  exalted  him.  So  watch- 
ful was  he  over  self,  and  so  tender  was  his  conscience, 
that  "  their  commendation  occasioned  him  some  pain," 
inasmuch  as  "they  tended  to  fan  the  flame  of  vanity." 


32  HENRY  MARTYN. 

He  felt  that  praise  was  a  severer  test  of  his  Christian 
principles  than  blame.  He  had  entered  into  the  mean- 
ing of  the  wise  man's  words,  "  As  the  fining  pot  for  silver, 
and  the  furnace  for  gold,  so  is  man  to  his  praise."  Private 
prayer  and  Divine  meditation  were  his  refuges  against  the 
temptation  of  human  applause. 

At  length,  having  withstood  in  Cornwall,  as  he  had 
done  in  Cambridge,  the  arguments  of  those  who  would 
have  detained  him  in  England,  he  prepared  to  say 
farewell  to  his  native  country,  and  to  those  dear  to  him, 
and  set  out  on  his  return  to  Cambridge  to  await  the 
summons  to  sail.  He  felt  the  approaching  separation 
from  his  friends  as  a  man  of  his  pure  and  sensitive 
nature  would  feel  so  great  a  trial.  There  was  a  sharp 
struggle  at  his  heart,  and  sorrow  such  as  they  feel  whose 
spirit  is  overwhelmed  by  bitter  and  painful  partings. 
He  had  formed,  as  we  have  said,  a  very  deep  and  fervent 
attachment  to  a  lady  in  Cornwall.  There  was  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion  among  his  friends  respecting  the  pro- 
priety of  his  marriage,  and  his  own  mind  often  had  a 
severe  conflict  on  the  point.  At  times  he  seemed  to 
think  voluntary  celibacy  the  more  noble  and  glorious  life, 
at  others  his  heart  strongly  urged  him  to  a  union  with 
one  so  fitted  to  be  his  helpmeet  in  the  work  which  lay 
before  him.  There  may  have  been  something  of  weak- 
ness and  indecision  in  this  struggle,  but  we  are  writing, 
not  of  an  angel,  but  of  a  man  ;  one  of  like  passions  with 
ourselves,  and  compassed  about  with  like  infirmity. 
When  at  length  it  was  decided  he  should  go  out  single 


CAMBRIDGE.  33 

even  if  afterwards  he  might  ask  Miss  Grenfell  to  join 
him  in  India, — and  she  before  his  departure  made  no 
objection  to  this  latter  arrangement,— his  entries  in  his 
journal  betray  how  deeply  he  felt  the  separation.  One 
of  these  shall  be  given  farther  on. 

He  saw  her  no  more  after  his  departure  from  England, 
and  in  consequence  of  the  disappointment  a  darkness 
fell  upon  his  life,  out  of  the  shadow  of  which  he  never 
entirely  passed.  But  we  must  touch  this  episode  of  his 
life  with  a  gentle  hand.  There  are  certain  feelings  of 
the  heart  over  which  it  is  becoming  to  throw  the  delicate 
veil  of  silence. 

"Not  easily  to  be  forgiven 
Are  those  who,  setting  aside  the  doors  that  bar 
The  secret  bridal  chambers  of  the  heart, 
Let  in  the  day." 

Martyn  felt  his  trial  all  the  more  acutely  inasmuch  as 
he  was  one  who  yearned  after  the  sympathy  and  society 
of  his  fellows,  and  shrank  sensitively  from  the  loneliness 
of  a  solitary  life.  But  any  hesitation  was  overcome  by 
the  constraining  motives  of  love  and  duty.  "  Shall  I 
hesitate,''  says  he,  "  to  pass  my  days  in  constant  solitude, 
who  am  but  '  a  brand  plucked  from  the  burning  ' .?  " 

When  Martyn  left  Cornwall,  he  went  to  Plymouth, 
where  he  passed  a  Sunday  in  heavenly  serenity  of  spirit, 
and  in  the  full  exercise  of  that  faith  which  is  "the 
substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen."  Here  he  preached  twice,  and  he  tells  us 
how  his  soul  longed  for  the  eternal  world,  and  he  could 

D 


34 


HENRY  MARTYN. 


see  nothing  on  earth  for  which  he  would  wish  to  live 
another  hour. 

From  Plymouth  he  proceeded  to  London,  and  on 
the  1 8th  of  September  we  find  him  again  quietly  settled 
at  Cambridge.  His  chief  happiness  centred  in  his 
pastoral  work ;  in  visiting  his  flock ;  in  preaching 
publicly,  and  from  house  to  house,  "  the  glorious  gospel 
of  the  blessed  God."  With  untiring  diligence  he  went 
about  his  Master's  business,  and  was  "  instant  in  season 
and  out  of  season  "  in  furthering  the  redeeming  work  of 
the  Cross. 

The  year  1804  closed  with  his  being  for  the  third 
time  selected  as  one  of  the  examiners  of  St.  John's  ; 
and  on  its  last  day  we  find  him  rejoicing  at  the  lapse 
of  time,  but  sorrowing  at  its  unprofitableness.  "So 
closes,"  he  remarks,  "  the  easy  part  of  my  life  :  enriched 
by  every  earthly  comfort,  and  caressed  by  friends,  I  may 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  experienced  trouble ;  but  now 
farewell  ease,  if  I  might  presume  to  conjecture.  O 
Lord,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit  !  Thou 
hast  redeemed  me,  Thou  God  of  truth ;  may  I  be 
saved  by  Thy  grace,  and  be  sanctified  to  do  Thy  will 
now,  and  to  all  eternity,  through  Jesus  Christ" 

Towards  the  end  of  January,  1805,  he  received  a 
sudden  summons  to  leave  England  in  ten  days.  He 
would  have  complied  with  it  at  once  had  he  been  in 
priest's  orders,  which  he  could  not  take  in  accordance 
with  law  until  the  i8th  February,  when  he  would  com- 
plete  his    24th  year.     It  was  in  the  month  of  March 


CAMBRIDGE. 


35 


that  he  was  admitted  to  the  office  of  a  presbyter  in 
St.  James'  Chapel,  London,  after  which  he  received  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Divinity,  conferred  upon  him  by 
mandate  from  the  University.  Nothing  now  remained 
to  detain  him  at  Cambridge ;  and  on  the  3rd  of  April, 
after  a  farewell  sermon  in  Trinity  Church,  Martyn 
quitted  for  ever  the  place  which  had  been  "the  dear 
abode  of  his  youth,"  which  his  talents  had  adorned,  and 
where  he  had  obtained  both  honour  and  reputation. 

During  the  two  months  that  he  remained  in  London, 
lie  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  Hindustani,  in  order 
io  qualify  himself  for  the  duties  of  an  Indian  missionary. 
He  also  preached  frequently  for  his  friends,  chiefly 
occupying  the  pulpit  of  St.  John's  Chapel,  Bedford 
Row,  then  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Cecil, 
from  whose  example  and  advice  he  derived  a  lasting 
advantage.  He  had  likewise  the  great  pleasure  of 
making  the  acquaintance  of  the  venerable  John  Newton, 
who,  expecting  soon  to  "enter  the  joy  of  his  Lord," 
rejoiced,  before  he  put  off  his  earthly  tabernacle,  to 
encourage  his  young  friend  in  the  discharge  of  that 
embassy  of  love  on  which  he  was  about  to  go  forth. 
It  was  at  St.  John's  that  he  preached  his  farewell  sermon 
from  the  words,  "And  now,  brethren,  I  commend  you 
to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace,  which  is  able 
to  build  you  up,  and  to  give  you  an  inheritance  among 
them  that  are  sanctified." 

So  ended  his  ministrations  in  England ;  and  with 
many  mingled  feelings  he  prepared  for  his  voyage  to 


36  HENRY  MARTYN. 

Imiia,  a  much  more  formidable  thing  in  that  day  than 
it  is  now,  occupying  considerably  more  time,  and 
attended  with  greater  risks. 

We  shall  bring  this  chapter  to  a  close  with  a  few 
extracts  from  his  journal.  And  it  is  well,  as  we  read 
them,  to  bear  in  mind  that  these  revelations  of  the  inner 
man  were  not  written  for  the  public  eye,  but  were  simply 
the  daily  record  of  his  own  feelings  and  struggles  as 
between  himself  and  God.  He  does  not  "  wear  his  heart 
upon  his  sleeve  for  daws  to  peck  at."  There  is  nothing 
in  these  "cardiphonia,"  these  heart- voices,  of  what  is 
known  as  cant,  professions  of  a  humiliation  and  a  conflict 
which  he  does  not  feel.  They  are  sacred;  they  are 
private,  penned  only  for  his  own  eye ;  and  when  we  read 
them  we  are  looking  at  the  man,  not  as  he  wished  to 
appear  before  others,  but  as  he  appeared  to  himself. 

April  2']th.  "My  constant  unprofitableness  seemed 
to  bar  my  approach  to  God.  But  I  considered  that  for 
all  that  was  past  the  blood  of  Christ  would  atone,  and 
that  for  the  future  God  would  that  moment  give  me 
grace  to  perform  my  duty." 

Alay  <^th.  "O  my  soul,  when  wilt  thou  live  con- 
sistently? When  shall  I  walk  steadily  with  God? 
When  shall  I  hold  heaven  constantly  in  view  ?  How 
time  glides  away;  how  is  death  approaching;  how  soon 
must  I  give  up  my  account ;  how  are  souls  perishing ; 
how  does  their  blood  call  out  to  us  to  labour,  to  watch, 
and  to  pray  for  them  that  remain." 

May  I  Gih.     "  I   went  down    with  Captain  M to 


CAMBRIDGE.  37 

Deptford.  Passing  through  an  inn  which  was  close  to  the 
water's  side  I  came  at  once,  to  my  great  surprise,  close 
to  the  Indiaman  before  I  was  aware  of  it.  The  sudden 
sight  of  the  water  and  of  the  ship  affected  me  ahiiost 
to  tears.  My  emotions  were  mixed, — partly  of  joy,  and 
partly  of  trembling  apprehension,  at  my  now  being  so 
soon  to  go  away." 

June  ^th.      *'I  have  not  felt  such  heartrending  pain 

since  I  parted  with  in  Cornwall.       But  the  Lord 

brought  me  to  consider  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  all 
this.  I  could  not  help  saying :  '  Go,  Hindoos ;  go  on 
still  in  your  misery  :  let  Satan  still  rule  over  you ;  for  he 
that  was  appointed  to  labour  among  you  is  consulting  his 
ease.'  No,  thought  I,  hell  and  earth  shall  never  keep 
me  back  from  my  work.  I  am  cast  down,  but  not 
destroyed.  I  began  to  consider  why  I  was  so  uneasy. 
'Cast  thy  care  upon  Him,  for  He  careth  for  you.'  'In 
everything  by  prayer  and  supplication,  with  thanks- 
giving, let  your  requests  be  made  known  to  God.'  These 
promises  were  sweetly  fulfilled  before  long  to  me." 

June  Zth.  "  My  heart  was  sometimes  ready  to  break 
with  agony.  At  other  times  I  was  visited  by  a  few 
moments  of  sublime  and  enraptured  joy.  Such  is  the 
conflict.  Why  have  my  friends  mentioned  this  subject  ? 
It  has  torn  open  old  wounds,  and  I  am  again  bleeding." 

June  \t^th.  "Shed  tears  to-night  at  the  thoughts  of 
my  departure.  I  thought  of  the  roaring  seas  which 
would  soon  be  rolling  between  me  and  all  that  is  dear 
to  me  on  earth." 


38  HENRY  MARTYN. 

July  Ofth.  "  Mr.  Cecil  showed  me  a  letter  in  Schwartz's 
own  handwriting.  Its  contents  were  of  a  very  experi- 
mental nature,  applicable  to  my  case.  The  life  of  faith 
in  Jesus  is  what  I  want.  My  soul  may  almost  burst 
with  astonishment  at  her  own  wickedness ;  but  at  the 
same  time  trusting  to  mercy,  rise  and  go,  and  try  to 
make  men  happy.  The  Lord  go  with  me  !  *  Let  my 
right  hand  forget  her  cunning,  if  I  remember  not  Jeru- 
salem above  my  chief  joy.'  " 


CHAPTER  III. 

MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA. 
[1805-6.] 

IN  the  July  of  1805,  Henry  Martyn  sailed  from 
Portsmouth  in  The  Union  East  Indiaman,  in  com- 
pany with  a  large  fleet  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Byng.  Two  days  after  sailing  the  ship  came  to  anchor 
in  the  port  of  Falmouth,  where  she  was  detained  for 
upwards  of  three  weeks.  An  extract  from  a  letter 
v.ritten  from  this  place  to  Mr.  Simeon,  vividly  depicts 
his  feelings  when,  rising  in  the  morning  of  the  lyth, 
the  day  on  which  he  sailed,  he  found  that  his  voyage 
was  really  begun.  "  It  was  a  very  painful  moment  to 
me  when  I  awoke  in  the  morning  after  you  left  us,  and 
found  the  fleet  actually  sailing  down  the  Channel. 
Though  it  was  what  I  had  anxiously  been  looking 
forward  to  so  long,  yet  the  consideration  of  being 
parted  for  ever  from  my  friends,  almost  overcame  me. 
My  feelings  were  those  of  a  man  who  should  suddenly 
be  told  that  every  friend  he  had  in  the  world  was  dead. 
It  was  only  by  prayer  for  them  that  I  could  be  com- 
forted; and  this  was  indeed  a  refreshment  to  my  soul, 


40  HENRY  MARTYN. 

because,  by  meeting  them  at  the  throne  of  grace,  I  seemed 
again  to  be  in  their  society." 

The  arrival  of  the  fleet  at  Falmouth  was  a  great 
surprise  to  Martyn ;  it  was  with  mingled  feelings  that  he 
acknowledged  "  the  singularity  of  the  providence  of  God 
in  leading  him  once  more  into  the  bosom  of  all  his 
friends."  We  learn  from  his  journals  that  delightful  as 
it  was  to  him  to  be  once  more  among  the  scenes  where 
he  had  spent  his  youth,  he  would  have  felt  happier  had 
a  storm  in  the  night  hurried  him  past  the  shores  of  the 
Cornwall  that  he  loved  so  well.  True,  he  was  able  once 
more  to  enjoy  the  society  of  dear  friends  before  he 
bade  them  farewell  for  ever ;  but  the  pleasure,  great  as 
it  was,  was  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  pangs  of 
another  separation.  For  Martyn  was  of  a  peculiarly 
sensitive  temperament ;  he  had  a  highly  wrought  mind, 
tender,  delicate,  very  susceptible,  easily  dejected,  and 
feeling  keenly  the  pleasures  or  the  pains  of  the  passing 
hour. 

While  he  was  detained  at  Falmouth,  he  preached 
several  times  in  the  ship  as  well  as  on  shore ;  and  one 
sermon,  whose  subject  was  the  missionary  cause,  pro- 
duced a  powerful  effect  on  the  congregation.  The 
audience  saw  before  them  a  man,  whose  aspirations  and 
affections  proved  that  "  the  kingdom  of  God  was  not  in 
word  but  in  power." 

On  the  loth  of  September  the  signal  was  given  for  the 
fleet  to  sail ;  and  as  he  was  at  the  time  in  the  country, 
about  twenty  miles  distant  from  Falmouth,  he  had  to 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA.  \\ 

make  an  effort  to  reach  the  Union  before  she  quitted 
the  harbour.  The  summons  came  unexpectedly.  "  At 
nine  in  the  morning,"  he  says,  "I  was  sitting  at  ease 
with  the  person  dearest  to  me  upon  earth,  intending  to 
go  out  with  her  afterwards  to  see  different  views,  to  visit 
some  persons  with  her,  and  preach  on  the  morrow  ;  four 
hours  only  elapsed,  and  I  was  under  sail  from  Eng- 
land." 

The  anxiety  he  felt  to  reach  the  ship  before  she  sailed, 
and  his  joy  in  finding  that  he  was  in  time,  banished  for 
the  moment  all  other  considerations  ;  but  when  the  ex- 
citement passed  there  came  the  reaction,  and  his  spirits 
flagged.  He  had  parted  with  the  woman  whom  he 
loved,  and  when  he  went  on  board,  it  was  with  the 
melancholy  certainty  of  never  beholding  her  again.  It 
was  little  wonder  that  the  death  of  his  earthly  hopes 
should  call  forth  many  a  burst  of  passionate  grief,  and 
that  he  needed  all  the  strength  of  Divine  consolation 
to  alleviate  his  sorrow.  There  needs  no  apology  for 
these  keen  feelings  on  Henry  Martyn's  part.  The 
Christian  is  not  the  mediaeval  saint:  pale,  emaciated, 
worn  ascetic,  who  crushes  down  his  physical  as  well  as 
mental  frame ;  but  one  who  remembers  that  all  human 
feelings  have  been  sanctified  by  the  Saviour,  and  who 
believes  in  the  sacredness  of  all  natural  affections.  He 
whose  first  miracle  was  performed  at  a  marriage  feast 
has  taught  us  that  the  true  holiness  of  life  is  not  in  the 
separation  of  its  natural  enjoyments  from  religion,  but 
in  consecrating  all  its  acts  to  the  glory  of  God. 


42  HENRY  MARTYN. 

For  the  greater  part  of  the  day  that  he  sailed,  and 
on  the  following  day,  the  ship  was  in  sight  of  Cornwall, 
and  every  object  on  the  receding  shore, — hamlet,  and 
wood,  and  headland,  reminded  him  of  scenes  linked  for 
ever  with  his  fondest  memories,  and  of  pleasures  gone 
never  to  return.  Very  touching  are  the  entries  in  his 
journals  which  record  his  feelings  at  this  period  of  his 
life. 

Su7ida}\  August  wth*  "I  rose  dejected  and  ex- 
tremely weak  in  body.  After  simply  crying  to  God  for 
mercy  and  assistance,  I  preached  on  Hebrews  xi.  i6  : 
*  But  now  they  desire  a  better  country,  that  is,  an 
heavenly :  wherefore  God  is  not  ashamed  to  be  called 
their  God  :  for  He  hath  prepared  for  them  a  city.'  On 
repeating  the  text  a  second  time  I  could  scarcely  refrain 
from  bursting  into  tears,  for  the  Mount,  and  St.  Hilary 
spire,  and  trees,  were  just  discernible  by  the  naked  eye 
at  the  time.  I  began  my  sermon  by  saying,  that  now 
the  shores  of  England  were  receding  fast  from  our  view, 
and  that  we  had  taken  a  long,— many  of  us  an  everlast- 
ing farewell.  We  had  made  little  way  during  the  night, 
and  so  in  the  morning  I  was  pleased  to  find  we  were  in 
Mount's  Bay,  midway  between  the  Land's  End  and  the 
Lizard;  and  I  was  often  with  my  glass  recalling  those 
beloved  scenes,  till  after  tea,  when,  ascending  the  poop, 
I  found  they  had  disappeared  ;  but  this  did  not  prevent 
my  praying  for  all  on  shore.  Amidst  the  extreme  gloom 
of  my  mind  this  day,  I  found  great  pleasure,  at  seasons 
*  Note. — Should  not  this  date  be  September — not  August  ? 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA.  43 

of  prayer,  in  interceding  earnestly  for  my  beloved  friends 
all  over  England." 

We  see  in  these  the  dejection  of  a  man  who  lived  in 
sympathy.  The  very  intensity  of  his  affections  made 
the  solitariness  of  his  friendless  position  more  painful. 
He  craved  for  human  help,  the  kind  look,  the  en- 
couraging word,  the  warm  grasp  of  the  hand ;  and 
though  surrounded  by  many  faces,  he  missed  what  he 
yearned  for,  and  felt  an  utter  loneliness  of  soul.  He 
writes  again  :  "  England  has  disappeared,  and  with  it  all 
my  peace.  The  pains  of  memory  were  all  I  felt.  Would 
I  go  back?  Oh  no!  But  how  can  I  be  supported? 
My  faith  fails.  I  find  by  experience  I  am  weak  as 
water.  O  my  dear  friends  in  England,  when  we  spoke 
with  exultation  of  the  mission  to  the  heathen,  whilst  in 
the  midst  of  health  and  joy  and  hope,  what  an  imperfect 
idea  did  we  form  of  the  sufferings  by  which  it  must  be 
accomplished."  But  his  feelings  were  not  always  of  this 
plaintive  cast.  He  was  often  able  to  rise  above  the 
sorrows  of  time,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  glory  to  be  re- 
vealed. 

On  the  14th  September  the  fleet  anchored  in  the  Cove 
of  Cork ;  and  while  here  he  would  fain  have  been 
allowed  to  preach  in  one  of  the  pulpits  of  the  city,  and 
to  address  the  convicts  going  out  with  the  fleet  to 
Botany  Bay.  His  wishes  in  both  cases  were  unfulfilled. 
He  regularly  read  prayers  on  board  the  Unio?i,  and 
preached  every  Sunday,  but  the  captain  would  not 
permit  him  to  have  more  than  the  one  service,  much 


44  HENRY  MARTYN. 

to  his  disappointment  and  vexation.  But  being  thus 
thwarted  in  his  wishes,  he  felt  that  his  influence  in  the 
ship  depended  upon  his  private  ministrations,  and  he 
went  almost  daily  between  decks,  and  there,  gathering 
together  all  who  were  willing,  he  read  some  religious 
book,  commenting  upon  it  as  he  went  on.  He  had  many- 
discouragements  in  these  efforts  for  his  Master.  "  Some 
attend  fixedly  ;  others  are  looking  another  way ;  some 
women  are  employed  about  their  children,  attending  for 
a  little  while,  and  then  heedless  ;  some  rising  up  and 
going  away, — others  taking  their  place  ;  and  numbers, 
especially  of  those  who  have  been  upon  watch,  strewed 
all  along  the  deck  fast  asleep, — one  or  two  from  the 
upper  decks  looking  down  and  listening." 

Nor  was  the  state  of  things  at  the  Sunday  service  much 
more  encouraging.  His  patience  was  sorely  tried,  and 
his  meekness  put  to  a  severe  test.  "The  passengers 
were  inattentive ;  the  officers,  many  of  them,  sat 
drinking,  so  that  he  could  overhear  their  noise ;  and  the 
captain  was  with  them."  "  How  melancholy  and  humil- 
iating is  this  mode  of  public  ordinances  on  ship-board, 
compared  with  the  respect  and  joy  with  which  the  mul- 
titudes come  up  to  hear  my  brethren  ashore  :  but  this 
prepares  me  for  preaching  among  the  heedless  Gentiles." 

On  the  30th  September,  after  a  fortnight's  detention  in 
the  Cove  of  Cork,  the  fleet,  consisting  of  fifty  transports, 
five  men  of  war,  and  the  Indiaman,  put  to  sea  ;  and 
again  we  find  him  a  sufferer  both  in  mind  and  body.  He 
became  languid  and  feverish ;   his  nights   were    passed 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  IiVDIA.  45 

without  sleep,  and  his  mental  conflict  was  extremely 
severe.  "My  anguish  at  times,"  he  says,  "was  inex- 
pressible, when  I  awoke  from  my  disturbed  dreams,  to 
find  myself  actually  on  my  way,  with  a  long  sea  rolling 
between  me  and  all  I  held  dear  in  this  life.  To  describe 
the  variety  of  perplexing,  heart-rending,  agonizing 
thoughts  which  passed  through  my  mind,  and  which, 
united  with  the  weakness  and  languor  of  my  body,  served 
to  depress  me  into  the  depths  of  misery,  would  be  im- 
possible. The  bodily  sufferings  Avould  be  nothing,  did 
not  Satan  improve  his  advantage  in  representing  the 
happiness  and  ease  of  the  life  I  had  left." 

Soon  after  the  fleet  had  left  the  Irish  coast,  it  was 
overtaken  by  a  terrific  storm ;  but  during  a  night  of 
general  anxiety  and  alarm,  Martyn's  mind  was  kept  in 
perfect  peace.  In  the  morning,  when  the  vessel  was 
going  under  bare  poles,  the  sea,  covered  with  so  thick  a 
mist  from  the  spray  and  rain  that  nothing  could  be  seen 
but  the  top  of  the  nearest  waves,  which  seemed  to  be 
running  over  the  windward  side  of  the  ship,  he  seized 
the  opportunity  of  pointing  out  the  way  of  salvation  to 
many  who  appeared  much  terrified  ;  and  most  willingly, 
had  circumstances  permitted,  would  he  have  preached 
to  the  whole  ship's  company,  warning  them  to  "  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  to  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life."  The  next  Sunday  he  used  the  form  for  thanks- 
giving after  a  storm.  The  voyage  hitherto  had  been 
very  wearisome.  Seven  tedious  weeks  had  passed,  and 
the  fleet  had  proceeded  no  farther  than  the  latitude  of 


46  HENRY  MARTYN. 

the  Lizard.  A  favourable  wind  now  bore  the  ships  on 
their  ocean  way,  and  about  the  end  of  September  they 
reached  Madeira. 

Though  the  time  had  seemed  long  since  he  left  Fal- 
mouth, yet  he  did  a  good  work  on  board  :  ever  watchful 
for  opportunities  of  pressing  the  claims  of  God  on  all 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  He  also  improved  the 
days  as  they  dragged  their  slow  length  along.  He 
studied  Hindustani ;  read  Milner's  Church  History ; 
Hooker's  Sermons  ;  Baxter's  Works,  and  the  Pilgrim's 
Progress.  He  writes  from  Funchal  to  a  near  relative  at 
Falmouth  :  "  Yesterday  morning  we  came  to  an  anchor 
at  this  place.  The  craggy  mountains  at  the  foot  of 
which  Funchal  is  situate,  make  a  most  grand  and  pic- 
turesque appearance.  On  entering  the  town  I  was  struck 
with  the  conviction  of  being  in  a  foreign  country. 
Everything  was  different, — the  houses,  even  the  poorest, 
all  regular  and  stately,  everywhere  groves  of  orange  and 
lemon  trees ;  the  countenances,  and  dress,  and  manners 
of  the  people  different  to  those  I  had  been  used  to; 
black-skirted  Catholic  priests  and  nun-like  women,  with 
beads  and  a  crucifix,  passing  in  all  directions.  How 
would  St.  Paul  have  sighed  in  passing  through  this  town, 
wholly  given  up  to  idolatry !  I  went  to  the  great  church, 
where  they  were  performing  high  mass,  and  was  perfectly 
dazzled  with  the  golden  splendour  of  the  place.  But  all. 
the  external  aids  of  devotion  lost  their  usual  effect  upon 
me  while  I  contemplated  the  endless  multitude  of 
mountebank  tricks  the  priests    were   exhibiting.      Is  it 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA.  47 

possible,  thought  I,  this  should  be  a  Christian  church  ? 
There  was  no  appearance  of  attention,  except  in  one  poor 
African  woman,  who  was  crossing  herself  repeatedly  with 
the  utmost  expression  of  contrition  in  her  countenance. 
" Perhaps,"  said  I  to  her  in  my  mind,  "we  shall  meet  in 
heaven." 

After  a  stay  of  four  days  at  Funchal  the  fleet  put  to 
sea,  the  army  having  been  told  beforehand  that  their 
object  was  the  capture  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  then 
in  the  occupation  of  the  Dutch,  who  had  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  French,  and  taken  part  against  us  in  the 
war.  The  possibility  of  a  battle  only  quickened  Martyn 
to  greater  earnestness,  and  he  was  constantly  visiting  that 
part  of  the  ship's  crew  who  were  so  shortly  to  be  exposed 
to  the  perils  of  warfare.  "  I  entreated  them  even  with 
tears,"  said  he,  ''out  of  fervent  love  for  their  souls,  and  I 
could  have  poured  away  my  life  to  have  persuaded  them 
to  return  to  God."  He  was  at  this  time  very  deeply  im- 
pressed by  the  following  sentence  in  Milner's  Church 
History  :  "  To  believe,  to  suffer,  and  to  love,  was  the 
primitive  state."  He  tells  us  that  "no  uninspired 
sentence  ever  affected  him  so  much."  "  It  was,  in  fact," 
as  his  biographer  says,  "  an  epitome  of  his  own  life,  con- 
versation, and  spirit :  a  lively  exemplification  of  which  is 
to  be  found  in  the  manner  in  which,  during  this  part  of 
the  voyage,  he  strove  against  an  extreme  and  oppressive 
languor  of  body,  which  tended  to  impede  his  present 
labours,  and  threatened  to  impair  his  future  efficiency." 

A  voyage  of  little  more  than  five  weeks  brought  the 


48  HENRY  MARTY N. 

fleet  from  Porto  Santo  to  St.  Salvador,  in  South  America. 
The  voyage  was  not  without  its  risks,  for  soon  after 
crossing  the  line  on  the  30th  October,  the  U7iion  passed 
in  the  night  within  a  very  short  distance  of  a  dangerous 
reef  of  rocks,  which  proved  destruction  to  two  other 
vessels.  The  reef  lay  exactly  across  the  track  of  the 
Union,  and  had  not  the  second  mate  been  on  the  watch, 
they  would  inevitably  have  been  Avrecked.  Fragments  of 
the  ships  that  were  broken  on  the  reef  came  floating  past 
them,  and  those  who  had  been  thrown  on  the  rocks  were 
holding  out  signals  of  distress.  Happily  all  were  saved, 
with  the  exception  of  three  officers,  one  of  whom  lost  his 
life  in  the  attempt  to  secure  a  large  sum  of  money. 
Leaving  the  vessel  too  soon,  he  sank  to  rise  no  more ; 
and  it  was  thought  that  he  became  a  prey  to  the  sharks 
which  in  great  numbers  surrounded  the  ship.  For  Mar- 
tyn's  part  he  had  nothing  but  the  most  fervent  gratitude 
to  God  for  His  guardian  care.  On  landing  at  St.  Sal- 
vador, he  was  much  struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  coast 
and  the  romantic  scenery.  All  save  the  spirit  of  man 
was  Divine.  The  population  was  Roman  Catholic,  and 
evidences  of  superstition  met  his  eye  on  every  hand. 
*'  I  walked  up  the  hill  in  order  to  get  into  tlie  country, 
and  observed  a  man  standing  by  the  wayside,  holding 
out  for  the  people's  salvation  a  silver  embossed  piece  of 
plate  of  a  small  oval  size,  and  repeating  some  words 
about  St.  Antonio.  Some  kissed  it,  others  took  off  their 
hats  ;  but  the  man  himself  seemed  to  ridicule  their  folly." 
He  here  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  young  man  who 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA, 


49 


had  been  educated  in  a  Portuguese  university,  and  from 
whom  he  received  much  kindness  and  hospitahty.  This 
was  Joseph  Antonio  Corre.  He  was  anxious  to  hear 
about  Cambridge,  and  gave  Martyn  a  general  invitation 
to  his  house.  Martyn  had  a  good  deal  of  conversation 
with  Antonio,  and  his  father,  Senor  Domingo,  and  some 
priests,  on  England,  and  the  errors  of  the  Romish 
Church.  The  father  was  so  trammelled  by  the  pre- 
judices of  education  that  no  argument,  though  drawn 
from  the  Scriptures,  made  any  impression ;  and  though 
the  son  professed  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  saints 
in  secret,  but  worshipped  God  alone,  Martyn  regarded 
the  profession  as  proceeding  from  "  a  liberal  rather  than 
religious  mind."  Whatever  Antonio's  private  opinions 
might  be,  he  conformed  in  public  to  the  superstitious 
practices  of  the  Romish  Church.  When  a  procession  of 
priests  passed  by,  carrying  the  sacrament  to  the  house  of 
a  person  who  was  dying,  father  and  son  both  knelt,  and 
continued  kneeling  until  the  procession  went  by.  Senor 
Antonio  said  that  he  "  conformed  to  the  custom  of  the 
country  in  trifles."  "  I  thought,"  says  Martyn,  "  of 
Naaman  and  his  god  Rimmon.  I  did  not,  however, 
think  it  right  to  push  the  matter  too  suddenly,  but  told 
him  in  general  how  the  English  Reformers  were  led  to 
prison  and  to  flames,  rather  than  conform,  and  that  if 
I  was  born  a  Portuguese,  I  would  rather  be  imprisoned 
and  burnt  than  conform  to  idolatry."  He  had  many 
conversations  with  others  on  the  errors  of  the  Church  of 
Rome ;   for  the  gross  superstition  which  met  him  on  all 


50  HENRY  MARTYN. 

sides  troubled  his  pure  spirit,  and  filled  it  with  such  infinite 
pain  that,  he  longed  to  bring  all  into  the  clear  light  of  the 
gospel.  He  had  met  with  great  kindness  at  St.  Salvador, 
and  on  parting  carried  away  many  a  thankful  recollection. 

Novembej'  2yd.  "  In  the  afternoon  took  leave  of  my 
kind  friends  Senor  and  Senora  Corre.  They  and  the 
rest  came  out  to  the  garden-gate,  and  continued  looking 
till  the  winding  of  the  road  hid  me  from  their  sight;  the 
poor  slave  Raymond,  who  had  attended  me,  and  carried 
my  things,  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears  as  we  left  the  door ; 
and  when  I  parted  from  him  he  was  going  to  kiss  my 
feet,  but  I  shook  hands  with  him,  much  affected  with 
such  extraordinary  kindness  in  people  to  whom  I  have 
been  a  total  stranger  till  within  a  few  days.  What  shall 
I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  His  mercies?  I  have 
been  with  my  friend  Antonio  as  a  wayfaring  man  that 
tarrieth  but  for  a  night,  yet  hath  the  Lord  put  it  into 
his  heart  to  send  me  on  after  a  goodly  sort.  And  now 
we  prosecute  our  voyage;  a  few  more  passages,  and  I 
shall  find  myself  in  the  scene  of  my  ministry;  a  few 
more  changes  and  journeys,  and  I  am  in  eternity." 

The  fleet  was  on  the  waters  again,  and  as  the  time 
drew  near  when  the  soldiers  would  be  engaged  on  the 
battle-field,  Martyn's  anxiety  for  their  spiritual  welfare 
increased ;  and  he  set  apart  a  day  for  fasting,  humilia- 
tion and  intercession  for  them,  as  well  as  for  all  who 
were  in  the  ship.  He  had  other  claims  on  his  attention. 
The  ship's  company  became  unhealthy,  the  crew  suffer- 
ing from  dysentery ;  and  Martyn  was  to  be  found  at  the 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA.  51 

beds  of  the  sick,  ministering  assiduously  to  their  tem- 
poral needs  and  spiritual  comfort.  He  himself  had  an 
attack  of  the  disorder,  but  his  illness  was  but  of  short 
duration;  and  as  soon  as  his  health  permitted,  he  was 
again  at  his  post,  praying  beside  the  hammocks  of  the 
dying.  The  captain  of  the  ship  fell  ill,  attacked  by 
disease  of  a  different  kind,  and  his  sickness  shortly 
proved  fatal.  To  him  also  Martyn  was  a  minister  of 
mercy  and  consolation. 

After  a  few  weeks,  on  the  2nd  of  January,  1806,  and 
while  Martyn  was  commending  his  flock  to  God  in 
prayer,  the  high  lands  of  the  Cape  became  visible  at 
eighty  miles  distance ;  and  on  the  next  day  the  fleet 
came  to  anchor,  and  the  signal  was  given  to  land.  The 
Indiaman  being  ordered  to  get  under  weigh,  and  the 
men  of  war  drawn  up  close  to  the  shore,  a  landing  was 
effected.  Soon  after  seven  the  next  day,  "a  most  tre- 
mendous fire  of  artillery  began  behind  a  mountain 
abreast  of  the  ships.  It  seemed  as  if  the  mountain 
itself  was  torn  by  intestine  convulsions.  The  smoke 
rose  from  a  lower  eminence  on  the  right  of  the  hill; 
and  on  the  top  of  it  troops  were  seen  marching  down 
the  further  declivity.  Then  came  such  a  long-drawn 
fire  of  musketry  that  I  could  not  conceive  anything 
like  it.  We  all  shuddered  at  considering  what  a  multi- 
tude of  souls  must  be  passing  into  eternity.  The  poor 
ladies  were  in  a  dreadful  condition,  every  peal  seemed 
to  go  through  their  hearts.  I  have  just  been  endeavour- 
ing to  do  what  I  can  to  keep  up  their  spirits.     The  sun 


52  HENRY  MARTYN. 

is  now  retiring,  and  the  enemy  are  seen  retreating  along 
the  low  ground  on  the  right  towards  the  town." 

Martyn  went  on  shore  as  soon  as  possible,  in  the  hope 
of  being  useful  to  the  wounded  on  the  battle-field.  In 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Simeon,  he  tells  something  of  what  he 
endured  while  engaged  in  his  work  of  love  and  mercy. 
He  dates  his  letter  from  the  Unio7i,  Table  Bay,  January 
7th,  1806:  "I  embraced  the  opportunity  of  getting  to 
the  wounded  men  soon  after  my  landing.  •  A  party  of 
the  Company's  troops  were  ordered  to  repair  to  the 
field  of  battle,  to  bring  away  the  wounded,  under  the 
command  of  Major  ,  whom  I  knew.  By  his  per- 
suasion I  attached  myself  to  them,  and  marched  six 
miles  over  a  soft  burning  sand,  till  we  reached  the  fatal 
spot.  We  found  several  but  slightly  hurt;  and  these 
we  left  for  a  while,  after  seeing  their  wounds  dressed 
by  a  surgeon.  A  little  onward  were  three,  mortally 
wounded.  One  of  these,  on  being  asked  where  he  was 
struck,  opened  his  shirt,  and  showed  a  wound  in  his 
left  breast.  The  blood  that  he  was  spitting  showed 
that  he  had  been  shot  through  the  lungs.  As  I  spread 
a  great  coat  over  him  by  the  surgeon's  desire,  who 
passed  on  without  attempting  to  save  him,  I  spoke  of 
the  blessed  gospel,  and  besought  him  to  look  to  Jesus 
Christ  for  salvation.  He  was  impressed,  but  could  not 
speak;  and  I  was  obliged  to  leave  him,  in  order  to 
reach  the  troops,  from  whom  the  officers,  out  of  regard 
to  my  safety,  would  not  allow  me  to  be  separated. 
Amongst  several  others,  some  wounded  and  some  dead, 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA.  53 

was  Captain  ^  who  was  shot    by  a  rifleman.      We 

all  stopped  to  gaze  for  a  while  in  pensive  silence  over 
his  pale  body;  and    then  passed  on    to  witness   more 
proofs  of  the  sin  and  misery  of  fallen  man.     Descending 
into  the  plain,  where  the  main  body  of  each  army  had 
met,  I  saw  some  of  the  59th,  one  of  whom,  a  corporal, 
who  sometimes  had  sung  with  us,  told  me  that  none  of 
the  59th  were  killed,  and  none  of  the  officers  wounded. 
Some  farm-houses  which  had    been  in  the  rear  of  the 
enemy's  army,  had  been  converted  into  an  hospital  for 
the  wounded,  whom  they  were  bringing  from  all  quarters. 
The  surgeon  told  me  that  there  were  already  in  the 
houses  two  hundred,  some  of  whom  were   Dutch.     A 
more  ghastly  spectacle  than  that  which  presented  itself 
here,  I  could  not  have  conceived.     They  were  ranged 
without  and  within  the  houses  in  rows,  covered  with 
gore.     Indeed,  it  was  the  blood,  which  they  had  not  had 
time  to   wash    off,  that   made    their   appearance    more 
dreadful  than  the  reality  ;  for  few  of  their  wounds  were 
mortal.       The    confusion  was  very  great;  and  sentries 
and  officers  were  so  intent  on  their  duty  that  I  had  no 
fit  opportunity  of  speaking  to  any  of  them  but  a  Dutch 
captain,  with  whom  I  had  conversed  in  French.      After 
this  I  walked  out  again  with  the  surgeon  to  the  field, 
and  saw  several  of  the  enemy's  wounded.     A  Hotten- 
tot, who   had    his   thigh    broken   by  a   ball,  was  lying 
in  extreme  agony,  biting  the  dust,  calling  down  horrid 
imprecations  in   Engfish  upon  the  Dutch.     I  told  him 
he  ought  to  pray  for  his  enemies ;  and  after  telling  the 


54  HENRY  MARTYN. 

poor  wretched  man  of  the  gospel,  I  begged  him  to  pray 
to  Jesus  Christ.  But  our  conversation  was  soon  inter- 
rupted ;  for  in  the  absence  of  the  surgeon,  who  was 
gone  back  for  his  instruments,  a  Highland  soldier  came 
up  and  challenged  me  with  the  words  :  '  Who  are  you?' 
'  An  Englishman.'  '  No,'  said  he  ;  *  you  are  French,' 
and  began  to  present  his  piece.  As  I  saw  that  he  was 
rather  intoxicated,  and  did  not  know  but  that  he  might 
actually  fire  out  of  mere  wantonness,  I  sprang  up  to- 
wards him,  and  told  him  if  he  doubted  my  word,  he 
might  take  me  as  his  prisoner  to  the  English  camp ;  but 
that  I  certainly  was  an  English  clergyman.  This  paci- 
fied him,  and  he  behaved  with  great  respect.  The 
surgeon,  on  examining  the  wound,  said  the  man  must 
die,  and  so  left  him.  At  length  I  found  an  opportunity 
of  returning,  as  I  much  wished,  in  order  to  recover  from 
distraction  of  mind,  and  give  free  scope  to  reflection. 
I  lay  down  on  the  border  of  a  clump  of  shrubs  or 
bushes,  with  the  field  of  battle  in  my  view,  and  there 
lifted  up  my  soul  to  God." 

This  letter  shows  us  the  heroism  of  the  man,  and  how 
he  was  willing  to  hazard  his  life,  if  he  might  only  whisper 
in  the  ears  of  the  wounded  and  the  dying  the  story  of 
Christ's  mercy  and  love.  After  spending  a  day  on  the 
field  of  battle,  he  marched  back  in  the  evening  with  the 
troop  to  Table  Bay.  "  The  surf  on  the  shore  was  very 
high,"  he  writes,  "  but  through  mercy  we  escaped  that 
danger.  But  when  we  came  to  our  ship's  station,  we 
found  she  was  gone,  having  got  under  weigh  some  hours 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA.  55 

before.  The  sea  ran  high.  Our  men  were  almost  spent, 
and  I  was  very  faint  from  hunger;  but  after  a  long  struggle 
we  reached  our  Indiaman  about  midnight." 

On  the  loth  of  January,  the  thunder  of  a  gun  was 
heard,  which  was  answered  on  the  instant  by  all  tlie  men 
of  war.  On  looking  out  for  the  cause,  the  British  flag 
was  seen  flying  on  the  Dutch  fort,  and  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  English 
crown. 

It  had  been  Martyn's  great  desire,  the  moment  he 
arrived  at  Cape  Town,  to  meet  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  missionaries  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society.  After  a  little  delay  his  wishes  were 
gratified,  and  he  found  him  standing  outside  of  his  house, 
silently  looking  up  at  the  stars.  A  great  number  of  black 
people  were  sitting  around.  On  making  himself  known, 
Dr.  Vanderkemp  led  him  in,  and  called  for  his  fellow- 
labourer,  Mr.  Read ;  and  his  heart  overflowed  with  joy 
and  gratitude  in  making  the  acquaintance  of  two  such 
devoted  servants  of  God. 

Januaiy  i/i^th.  "Continued  walking  with  Mr.  Read 
till  late.  He  gave  me  a  variety  of  curious  information 
respecting  the  mission.  He  told  me  of  his  marvellous 
success  amongst  the  heathen,  how  he  had  heard  them 
among  the  bushes  pouring  out  their  hearts  to  God.  At 
all  this  '  my  soul  did  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit 
rejoiced  in  God  my  Saviour.' 

"  Walked  with  brother  Read,  and  was  so  charmed  with 
his  spiritual  behaviour,  that  I  fancied  myself  in  company 


56  HENRY  MARTYN. 

with  David  Brainerd.  Sat  at  night  in  the  open  air, 
with  the  Table  Mountains  before  me,  and  endeavoured 
to  meditate  on  Isaiah  xi.  2.  I  went  to  a  church  lately- 
built  for  the  instruction  of  slaves.  There  were  about  one 
hundred  such  from  fifty  different  families.  A  black  who 
was  employed  in  lighting  the  candles  was  pointed  out  to 
me  as  one  who  was  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  Madagascar. 
Walking  home  I  asked  Dr.  Vanderkemp  if  he  had  ever 
repented  of  his  undertaking.  '  No/  said  the  old  man, 
*  and  I  would  not  exchange  my  work  for  a  kingdom.' " 

At  length  Martyn  had  to  part  from  these  newly  found 
but  dear  friends,  knit  as  they  were  together  in  the 
bonds  of  a  common  faith,  and  he  was  again  on  his 
voyage  to  the  scene  of  his  labours.  He  suffered  now,  as 
he  did  before,  from  the  tediousness  of  the  passage,  and 
from  sickness  and  languor.  But  whether  he  was  tossed 
on  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  or  becalmed  on  the  Indian  Sea, 
v/hether  he  suffered  from  illness,  or  was  enfeebled  by- 
lassitude,  he  received  all  with  meekness  and  resignation, 
as  the  special  appointment  of  God. 

His  pastoral  assiduity  was  again  called  into  exercise 
by  the  unhealthy  state  of  the  ship's  company.  When 
Martyn  was  able  to  leave  his  own  bed  he  was  found  by 
the  beds  of  the  sick,  ministering  to  their  temporal  and 
spiritual  wants,  and  pointing  the  eye  of  faith  to  Him  who 
came  "  that  we  might  have  life,  and  might  have  it  more 
abundantly."  And  now,  as  before,  this  exhibition  of  a 
fine  Christian  philanthropy  was  given  amid  much  to 
damp  its  ardour  and  check  its  sympathies ;    for  he  met 


JJARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA.  57 

with  violent  and  increasing  opposition  from  many  of  the 
more  intelHgent  of  the  passengers,  and  a  discouraging  in- 
difference from  others.  We  can  well  believe  that  a  spirit 
so  sensitive  as  his,  and  yearning  after  the  sympathy  of  his 
fellows,  felt  the  scorn  and  the  insult,  and  was  wounded 
by  the  contempt  and  disdain ;  but  none  of  these  things 
moved  him,  and  he  set  his  face  like  a  flint  to  the  dis- 
charge of  his  arduous  duties.  The  love  of  God  cast  out 
the  fear  of  man.  It  made  him  frank  and  fearless,  and 
careless  of  personal  consequences.  It  gave  him  the  hero's 
heart  and  the  martyr's  spirit.  It  enabled  him  to  take  up 
words  into  his  lips  more  impassioned,  and  grander  than 
any  uttered  by  the  noblest  poet  on  earth ;  the  words  of 
another  great  soul,  spoken  under  the  inspiration  of  a 
mighty  and  all-conquering  affection  :  "  We  are  troubled 
on  every  side,  yet  not  distressed  ;  perplexed,  but  not  in 
despair;  persecuted,  but  not  forsaken;  cast  down,  but 
not  destroyed."  His  whole  heart  filled  with  that  enthu- 
siasm which  is  born  of  faith  in  Christ,  he  walked  along 
that  path  which  his  Master  hallowed,  "  being  conformed 
unto  the  likeness  of  His  death,"  knowing  "  the  fellow- 
ship of  His  sufferings,"  and  devoted  to  His  cause. 

Falling  in  with  the  trade  winds,  the  fleet  made  quick 
progress  towards  India,  and  the  breezes  wafted  him  day 
by  day  nearer  to  "  the  haven  where  he  would  be.^'  On 
the  19th  of  April,  Ceylon  came  in  sight,  and  Martyn 
describes  the  long  range  of  hills  running  -north  and 
south,  and  though  not  lofty  broken  in  a  picturesque 
manner  with  lowlands  between  the  hills  and  sea,  covered 


58  HENRY  MARTYN, 

with  trees.  While  "  the  spicy  breezes,  blowing  soft  from 
Ceylon's  Isle,"  brought  a  soothing  and  refreshing  fra- 
grance to  his  senses,  his  mind  was  filled  with  delightful 
anticipations.  He  thought  of  the  time  when  the  name 
of  Jesus  should  be  "as  ointment  poured  forth"  in 
temples  raised  by  Cingalese  amidst  their  cinnamon 
groves,  and  when  prayers  should  ascend  to  heaven  like 
clouds  of  incense  through  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer. 

On  the  Sunday  following,  expecting  it  would  be  his 
last  on  board,  he  addressed  the  ship's  company  in  a 
farewell  discourse.  It  might  have  been  supposed  that 
an  occasion  so  solemn  would  have  restrained  any 
attempt  at  ridicule  or  scorn ;  but  it  was  not  so,  and  they 
who  reviled  him  at  first  continued  to  revile  him  to  the 
last.  "  It  pained  me,"  he  says,  "  that  they  should  give 
a  ridiculous  turn  to  anything  on  so  affecting  an  occasion 
as  parting  for  ever  in  this  life.  But  such  is  the  unthank- 
ful office  of  a  minister.  Yet  I  desire  to  take  the  ridicule 
of  men  with  all  meekness  and  charity,  looking  forward  to 
another  world  for  approbation  and  reward."  We  have 
here  the  very  mind  of  Christ,  the  spirit  of  Him  whose 
cross  he  had  taken,  and  who  "  when  He  was  reviled, 
reviled  not  again;  when  He  suffered  He  threatened  not, 
but  committed  Himself  to  Him  who  judgeth  righteously." 

At  length,  after  a  wearisome  voyage  of  nine  months 
from  the  date  of  his  leaving  Portsmouth,  he  saw  the  land 
which  he  had  so  ardently  longed  to  behold,  and  on  the 
2 1  St  of  April  "his  eyes  were  gratified  with  the  sight  of 
India."' 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA.  59 

April  2272d.  "At  sunrise  we  anchored  in  Madras 
roads  Several  Doobashees,  or  interpreters,  came  on 
board,  dressed  in  white  musHn.  I  went  ashore  in  one  of 
the  country  boats,  made  very  high  in  order  to  weather 
the  surf,  with  the  boards  throughout  sewed  together  very 
coarsely  with  straw,  and  the  interstices  filled  with  it. 
On  the  shore  I  was  surrounded  by  an  immense  crowd  of 
Coohes;  I  suppose  two  hundred,  who  caught  up  one 
box  after  another,  and  were  going  off  in  different  direc- 
tions, so  that  I  was  obliged  to  run  instantly  and  stop 
them  ;  and  having  with  some  difficulty  got  my  things 
together,  I  went  to  the  Custom  House,  attended  by  four 
Coolies,  a  Doobashee,  an  umbrella  carrier,  and  a  boy  or 
waiting  man,  all  of  whom  attached  themselves  to  ipe, 
without  at  all  consulting  me  on  the  occasion. 

"Nothing  as  yet  struck  me  as  remarkable  in  the 
country,  for  the  novelty  of  it  had  been  anticipated  in 
what  I  had  seen  at  St.  Salvador.  The  number  of  black 
people  was  immense,  and  the  crowd  of  servants  so 
great,  that  one  would  suppose  they  thought  themselves 
made  for  the  service  of  the  English.  The  elegance  of 
their  manner  I  was  much  taken  with;  but  in  general 
one  thought  naturally  occurred,  the  conversion  of  their 
poor  souls.  I  felt  a  solemn  sort  of  melancholy  at  the 
sight  of  such  multitudes  of  idolators.  While  the  tur- 
baned  Asiatics  waited  upon  us  at  dinner,  about  a  dozen 
of  them,  I  could  not  help  feeling  as  if  we  had  got  into 
their  places.  But  now  that  I  am  actually  treading 
Indian  ground,  let  me  bless  and  adore  my  own  God 


6o  HENRY  MARTYN. 

for  doing  so  much  for  me  ;  and  oh,  if  I  live,  let  me 
have  come  hither  for  some  purpose." 

The  first  Sunday  in  India  he  spent  at  Madras,  and 
after  preaching  in  the.  morning,  he  went  after  dinner 
to  the  chapel  where  Mr.  Lovelace  officiated.  "  I  sat,'* 
he  says,  "  in  the  air  at  the  door,  enjoying  the  blessed 
sound  of  the  gospel  on  an  Indian  shore,  and  joining 
with  much  comfort  in  the  song  of  Divine  praise." 

After  a  short  detention  at  Madras,  the  fleet  sailed  for 
the  Hooghly,  and  again  while  at  sea  he  suffered  greatly 
from  langour  and  debihty.  "  Exertion  seemed  to  him 
like  death, — indeed,  absolutely  impossible."  He  was 
aroused  by  seeing  the  great  pagoda  of  Juggernaut  rising 
fro;n  the  shores,  and  his  heart  was  filled  with  the 
deepest  compassion  for  the  wretched  children  of  India 
who  had  erected  such  a  monument  of  her  shame  on  the 
coast,  and  whose  heathenism  stared  the  stranger  in  his 
face.  When  Juggernaut  was  left  behind,  the  fleet  was 
overtaken  by  a  terrific  hurricane,  such  as  is  often 
experienced  in  those  latitudes ;  and  in  an  instant  every 
sail  of  the  Uiiion  was  torn  to  pieces.  The  ship  ran 
before  the  gale,  the  tempest  lulled,  and  the  mouth  of 
the  Hooghly  was  reached  in  safety.  But  here  again 
they  were  met  by  a  still  more  formidable  danger.  On 
the  13th  May  the  Union  struck  on  a  sand-bank  near 
the  Diamond  harbour,  where  her  situation  was  full  of 
peril,  for  the  night  came  on,  and  the  wind  increased. 
The  captain  looked  upon  the  vessel  as  lost,  and  all 
the   passengers    were    in    the  deepest   alarm.      Martyn 


MARTYN  SAILS  FOR  INDIA.  6l 

'  retired  for  prayer,  and  so  was  kept  in  peace.  After 
being  in  danger  for  two  hours,  the  ship  unexpectedly 
floated  into  deep  waters,  and  reached  Calcutta  to  the 
joy  of  all  on  board. 

From  this  city  Martyn  wrote  to  a  dear  friend  :  "  My 
long  and  wearisome  voyage  is  concluded,  and  I  am 
at  last  arrived  in  the  country  where  I  am  to  spend  my 
days  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  Scarcely  can  I  believe 
myself  to  be .  so  happy  as  to  be  actually  in  India ; 
yet  this  hath  God  wrought.  Through  changing  climates 
and  tempestuous  seas,  He  hath  brought  on  His  feeble 
worm  to  the  field  of  action,  and  will,  I  trust,  speedily 
equip  me  for  my  work.  I  am  now  very  far  from  you 
all,  and  as  often  as  I  look  round  and  view  the  Indian 
scenery,  I  sigh  to  think  of  the  distance  that  separates 
us.  Time,  indeed,  and  reflection  have,  under  God, 
contributed  to  make  the  separation  less  painful ;  yet 
still  my  thoughts  recur  with  increasing  fondness  to 
former  friendship,  and  make  the  duty  of  intercession 
for  you  a  happy  privilege.  Day  and  night  I  do  not 
cease  to  pray  for  you,  and  I  am  willing  to  hope  that 
you  too  remember  me  daily  at  the  throne  of  grace. 
Let  us  not  by  any  means  forget  one  another,  nor  lose 
sight  of  the  day  of  our  next  meeting.  We  have  little 
to  do  with  the  business  of  this  world.  Place  and  time 
have  not  that  importance  in  our  views  that  they  have 
in  those  of  others ;  and  therefore  neither  change  of 
situation,  nor  lapse  of  years,  should  weaken  our  Chris- 
tian attachments.     I  see  it  to  be  my  business  to  fulfil, 


62  HENRY  MARTYN. 

as  a  hireling,  my  day ;  and  then  to  leave  the  world. 
Amen.  We  shall  meet  in  happier  regions.  I  believe 
that  those  connections  and  comforts  and  friendships  I 
have  heretofore  so  desired,  though  they  are  the  sweetest 
earthly  blessings,  are  earthly  still." 


I 


CHAPTER  IV. 

INDIA. 

[1806-8.] 

T  may  not  be  out  of  place  if  we  make  a  few  remarks 
on  the  first  missions  to  India.     It  is  said— and  there 
is  no  reason  to  question  the  correctness  of  the  tradition 

that  the  apostle  who  was  permitted  to  put  his  hands 

into  the  sacred  wounds  of  the  Saviour's  body,  was  the 
first  who  brought  the  knowledge  of  Christ  to  the 
icrnorant  Hindoos.  Tradition  marks  the  spot— hence 
called  St.  Thomas'  Mount— on  which  the  apostle  who 
once  doubted  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  suffered  martyr- 
dom in  his  Master's  cause.  When  the  Portuguese, 
in  the  early  part  of  the  i6th  century,  first  established 
themselves  on  the  coast  of  Malabar,  they  found  a 
community  called  Syriac,  or  St.  Thome,  Christians, 
because  descended  from  the  converts  of  the  apostle, 
whose  church  was  episcopal  in  its  constitution,  and 
who,  though  surrounded  by  the  darkness  of  Hindoo 
superstition  and  idolatry,  faithfully  though  feebly  pre- 
served the  light  of  heavenly  truth  for  more  than  1,500 
years.  The  Portuguese,  on  their  arrival,  sent  forth 
teachers  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  to  various  parts 

63 


64  HENRY  MARTYN. 

• 

of  the  country,  who,  leaving  caste  untouched,  slightly 
modifying  image  worship,  and  confirming  many  of  the 
superstitious  observances  of  the  heathen,  received  into 
the  Church  all,  of  whatever  character,  who  would  submit 
to  be  baptized.  For  a  time  their  efforts  succeeded, 
and  the  number  of  converts  was  large  \  but  their  suc- 
cess was  but  of  limited  duration.  When  the  Roman 
Catholic  missions  were  in  their  decline,  Frederick  IV., 
king  of  Denmark,  established  a  missionary  station  at 
Tranquebar,  which  town  had  been  ceded  to  the  Danish 
crown  by  the  Rajah  of  Tanjore. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  vener- 
able "  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge " 
undertook  the  sole  support  of  a  mission  at  Madras,  and 
had  the  honour  of  sending  forth  a  Schwartz  to  convey  to 
the  East  that  glorious  gospel,  whose  words,  when  applied 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  can  create  life  under  the  ribs  of 
death,  and  make  men  ''  wise  unto  salvation  through 
faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  But  as  yet  the  Church 
of  England  had  no  systematic  organization  for  direct 
missionary  work  amongst  the  millions  who  inhabited 
the  peninsula  of  India.  At  length  the  time  came  when 
she  awoke  to  a  sense  of  her  responsibihties  and  duties. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century,  a  few  clergymen 
met  in  a  small  room  in  the  heart  of  London  for  the 
object  of  mutual  edification.  They  had  often  assembled 
in  the  same  place  for  purposes  of  devotion  and  profit ; 
but  on  this  occasion  a  more  than  usual  interest  might 
be  observed  in  their  whole  demeanour.     What  was  the 


INDIA.  65 

reason  of  this?  It  was  the  year  in  which  Bonaparte, 
in  his  attempt  to  conquer  Syria,  crossed  the  desert 
from  Cairo  with  1 0,000  men,  and  taking  Gaza,  and 
storming  Jaffa,  butchered  all  the  prisoners  there  in 
cold  blood,  and  carried  everything  before  him,  until  he 
was  checked  in  his  career  before  the  walls  of  St.  Jean 
d'Acre.  It  was  also  a  year  in  which  the  groans  borne 
across  the  sea  from  Africa  and  the  West  Indies  gre»iv 
hoarser  and  deeper,  and  the  terrible  cry  of  oppression 
that  rose  to  the  ear  of  God  from  the  victims  of  the 
accursed  trade  in  slaves  began  to  make  itself  heard 
through  the  country,  and  called  forth  the  sympathy 
and  compassion  of  many  a  philanthropic  heart.  But 
neither  the  thrilling  events  which  were  taking  place  in 
the  East,  nor  the  cries  of  the  enslaved  rising  from 
our  colonies— though  they  had  been  stirred  by  the 
story  of  the  one  and  sighed  over  the  wail  of  the 
other — occupied  the  thoughts,  on  the  day  referred  to, 
of  the  handful  of  parish  priests  met  in  that  humble 
chamber.  They  were  consulting  how  they  might  rouse 
the  great  heart  of  England  to  undertake  the  noble 
work  of  evangelizing  the  world.  India  and  Africa, 
with  their  teeming  multitudes,  lay  close  to  their  hearts, 
and  formed  the  topic  of  their  conversation.  They 
resolved,  in  the  strength  of  God,  to  do  all  that  was  in 
their  power  to  send  the  gospel  to  the  millions  who 
knew  nothing  of  the  one  true  God,  and  had  never 
heard  the  name  of  Christ.  God's  blessing  rested  on 
their  work  of  faith  and  labour  of  love.     He  had  already 

F 


66  HENRY  MARTYM. 

prepared  some  of  England's  legislators  to  listen  to  an 
appeal  for  direct  missionary  work  amongst  the  heathen 
in  Africa  and  the  East.  Of  these  there  was  one  who 
had  seen  India  for  himself,  and  mourned  over  its 
abominations ;  another,  whose  birth  and  family  con- 
nected him  with  the  merchant  princes  of  this  country, 
and  who  longed  for  the  diffusion  of  Christianity 
throughout  the  globe ;  a  third,  who,  filled  with  "  the 
enthusiasm  of  humanity,"  had  learned  to  live  for  others, 
and  who  had  received  from  God's  hands  the  interests 
of  wronged  and  outraged  Africa.  To  these  men,  and 
a  few  others,  was  entrusted  the  honour  of  forming  the 
Church  ]\Iissionary  Society, — a  society  which  has 
grown  year  by  year,  which  has  swelled  from  an  insig- 
nificant rill  to  a  mighty  river  whose  waters,  carrying 
with  them  life  and  healing,  have  fertilized  and  glad- 
dened many  a  parched  and  thirsty  land. 

It  was  once  said,  and  with  too  much  truth,  that  were 
British  rule  in  India  to  become,  in  the  changes  brought 
about  by  the  providence  of  God,  a  fact  of  history  to- 
morrow, no  visible  impress  of  our  faith  would  be  left 
over  whole  provinces  and  kingdoms ;  nothing  would 
remain  to  show  that  Englishmen  fought  beneath  the 
banner  of  the  Cross,  and  remembered  the  God  of  battles 
in  the  victories  which  He  Himself  vouchsafed.  But  this 
can  be  said  no  more.  There  are  now  not  only  noble 
cathedrals,  and  commodious  churches — many  a  mission 
station,  with  its  peaceful  sanctuary  and  busy  schools; 
but  there  are  imperishable  memorials   of  Christian  work 


INDIA.  67 

and  Christian  success;  waste  places  turned  into  the 
garden  of  the  Lord ;  moral  wildernesses  rejoicing  and 
blooming  as  the  rose;  souls,  the  purchase  of  the 
Saviour's  Cross,  ''  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corru])- 
tion,  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God." 
Temples  made  with  hands  perish  and  decay,  structures 
of  man's  designing,  the  noblest  and  grandest,  may  be 
swept  away  by  the  tornado  of  popular  tumult,  but  these 
spiritual  trophies  are  more  durable  than  dynasties  and 
thrones — outlive  time,  and  are  coeval  with  eternity  itself. 
It  was  that  he  might  win  bloodless  and  immortal  vic- 
tories, that  he  might  open  the  blind  eye,  turn  men  "  from 
darkness  to  light,"  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God,"  that  Henry  Martyn  engaged  in  the  high  enter- 
prise to  which  he  had  devoted  himself  with  singular 
self-renunciation ;  consecrating  his  clear  intellect,  his 
simple  faith,  his  burning  zeal  to  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
salvation  of  the  lost 

Martyn  came  to  India  borne  on  the  wings  of  prayer. 
"  For  many  years,"  says  his  biographer,  "  supplications 
had  incessantly  ascended  up  to  heaven  from  Christians  in 
India,  for  the  spiritual  prosperity  of  that  benighted  land  ; 
and  for  a  considerable  time  a  stated  weekly  meeting  had 
been  held  at  Calcutta,  on  the  recommendation  of  Dr. 
Buchanan  and  Mr.  Barnes,  for  the  express  purpose  of 
beseeching  the  Lord  to  send  forth  labourers  into  those 
"fields  which  were  white  unto  the  harvest."  One  of 
these,  Dr.  Buchanan,  a  name  dear  to  all  who  admire 
zeal,  integrity,  liberality,  and  an  entire  consecration  of 


68  HENRY   MARTYN. 

high  talents  in  the  cause  of  Christian  philanthropy,  was 
now  about  to  commence  his  researches  into  the  state 
of  religion  amongst  the  Syrian  Christians ;  and  the  ship 
which  conveyed  him  on  that  interesting  errand  left  the 
mouth  of  the  Hooghly  as  the  Union  entered  it.  To  him, 
doubtless,  the  sight  of  Mr.  Martyn  would  have  seemed 
an  answer  to  prayer,  demanding  the  warmest  thanks- 
giving ;  the  voice  of  a  Christian  missionary  would  have 
been  sweeter  in  his  ears  than  those  sounds  which  he 
afterwards  heard  in  Travancore,  from  the  bells  amongst 
the  hills,  and  which  reminded  him  of  another  country." 

Martyn  was  received  with  all  the  warmth  of  Christian 
affection  at  Aldeen,  near  Calcutta,  by  the  Rev.  David 
Brown,  who  fitted  up  for  his  residence  a  pagoda  where 
he  could  enjoy  as  much  retirement  as  he  desired.  The 
pagoda  was  near  Mr.  Brown's  house,  and  on  the  borders 
of  the  river,  and  its  chambers  often  re-echoed  the  voice 
of  prayer  and  the  song  of  praise.  It  was  a  matter  of 
much  rejoicing  to  Martyn  that  "  the  place  where  once 
devils  were  worshipped  was  now  become  a  Christian 
oratory."  While  here  he  had  a  serious  attack  of  fever, 
and  during  his  illness  he  was  overtaken  by  a  very 
common  temptation — the  temptation  to  take  some  satis- 
faction in  his  own  righteousness,  and  to  look  to  it  as 
a  qualification  to  give  him  confidence  in  God.  It  was 
a  wile  of  the  great  adversary,  who  takes  advantage  of 
seasons  of  weakness  to  try  us  with  his  fiercest  assaults. 
He  that  tempted  Job  when  he  was  bowed  with  sorrow, 
and  Jesus  when  He  was  faint  with  hunger,  now  tempted 


INDIA.  69 

Martyn  when  he  was  worn  out  with  sickness  and 
exhaustion.  He  sought  to  withdraw  his  eyes  from 
Christ,  and  to  fix  them  on  himself,  so  clouding  over  his 
faitli,  and  darkening  his  joy.  No  wonder  that  whilst 
he  was  wrestling  with  the  Prince  of  darkness,  and  with 
the  frailty  of  his  own  heart,  he  could  write  of  himself  in 
these  terms  :  "  I  could  derive  no  comfort  from  reflecting 
on  my  past  life.  Indeed,  exactly  in  proportion  as  I 
looked  for  evidences  of  grace,  I  lost  that  brokenness  of 
spirit  I  wished  to  retain,  and  could  not  lie  with  simplicity 
at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  I  really  thought  that  I  was 
departing  this  life.  I  began  to  pray  as  on  the  verge  of 
eternity,  and  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  break  my  hard 
heart.  I  lay  in  tears  interceding  for  the  unfortunate 
natives  of  this  country  ;  thinking  with  myself  that  the 
most  despicable  Soodar  of  India  was  of  as  much  value  in 
the  sight  of  God  as  the  king  of  Great  Britain." 

After  his  recovery,  the  current  of  his  days  flowed  on 
pleasantly  and  sweetly,  brightened  by  the  pleasures  of 
friendly  society  and  the  communion  of  saints.  So 
happily  did  time  pass,  that  Martyn,  with  his  usual  watch- 
fulness over  self,  began  to  fear  lest  after  such  enjoyment 
among  friends,  he  should  be  less  fitted  for  the  solitude 
and  hardships  of  the  life  he  had  chosen.  Calcutta  was 
a  place  so  manifestly  suited  to  his  peculiar  gifts  that  his 
friends  were  earnest  in  their  solicitations  that  he  sliould 
continue  in  a  sphere  where  his  ministry  was  so  likely  to 
be  useful.  But  Dr.  Buchanan  truly  said  of  him  in  his 
"  Christian  Researches/'  that  he  had  a  spirit  to  follow 


70  HENRY  MARTYN. 

the  steps  of  Brainerd  and  Schwartz ;  and  to  be  prevented 
from  going  to  the  heathen,  Martyn  himself  remarked  on 
this  occasion,  ''would  almost  have  broken  his  heart." 
He  saw  enough  of  the  cruel  rites  and  debasing  idolatries 
of  heathenism  at  Aldeen,  to  fill  him   with  the  utmost 
compassion   for  those  who  were    "  perishing  for  lack  of 
knowledge."     Seeing  one  day  the  blaze  of  a  funeral  pile, 
he  hastened   to  the  spot  whence  the  flames  arose,   to 
rescue  a  poor  woman  from  the  fire,  but  she  was  burned 
to  ashes  before  he  could  reach  the  place.     He  used  to 
hear  the  sounds  of  cymbals  and  drums  rising  from  a  dark 
wood  near  Serampore,  calling  the  natives  to   their  devil- 
worship  ;  and  he  frequently  saw  the  natives  prostrating 
themselves  before  a  black  idol  which  stood  in  one  of 
their  pagodas,  a  sight  which  overwhelmed  him  with  pity 
and  horror,  and  he  "  shivered,"  he  tells  us,  "  as  standing 
as  it  were  in  the  neighbourhood  of  hell."     Such   scenes 
might  have  had  weight  in  inducing  him  to  listen  to  the 
wishes  of  his  friends  to  remain  at  Calcutta  \  but  as  they 
took  place  near  to  a  city  from  which  many  a  holy  man 
of  God  had  gone  out  to  the  wretched  slaves  of  super- 
stition, crying,  "  Why  do  ye  such  things  ?"  he  felt  that  he 
was  called  to  places  where  there  was  no  one  to  point  the 
idolater  to  "  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world." 

During  his  stay  at  Aldeen  he  vigorously  studied 
Hindustani,  availing  himself  of  the  assistance  of  a 
Brahmin  from  Cashmere,  whom  he  wearied  with  his 
untiring   assiduity.      He    also    preached    often    to    his 


INDIA.  71 

countrymen,  both  in  the  Mission  Church,  and  at  the 
New  Church  in  Calcutta.  His  faithful  statement  of  the 
gospel  was  offensive  to  many  of  his  hearers,  and  un- 
palatable even  to  some  of  his  brother  clergymen,  who 
attacked  hiui  from  the  pulpit,  and  denounced  his  doc- 
trines as  "inconsistent,  extravagant,  absurd."  He  had 
the  pain  of  sometimes  being  present  while  these  attacks 
were  made,  and  to  hear  himself  described  as  "  knowing 
neither  what  he  said,  nor  whereof  he  affirmed,  and  as 
speaking  only  to  gratify  self-sufficiency,  pride,  and 
uncharitableness."  His  behaviour  under  such  indecent 
attacks,  so  lacking  in  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  or  the 
gentleman,  and  which  in  these  days  would  be  impossible, 
was  worthy  a  disciple  of  Christ.  "I  rejoiced,"  he  said, 
"  to  receive  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  after- 
wards, as  the  solemnities  of  that  blessed  ordinance 
sweetly  tended   to  soothe    any  asperity  of  mind ;   and 

1    think    that    I    administered    tiie    cup    to  and 

with  sincere  goodwill.  There  was  one  honour- 
able exception  to  the  way  in  which  his  brethren  in  the 
ministry  at  Calcutta  received  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  in  all  its  fulness  and  faithfulness  through  his  lips. 
One  of  the  chaplains,  perceiving  that  the  doctrines  of 
the  Church  of  England  were  becoming  a  matter  of  warm 
and  general  controversy,  adopted  the  admirable  plan  of 
simply  reading  the  Homilies  to  the  congregation,  thus 
leaving  the  Church  authoritatively  to  speak  for  herself, 
and  giving  all  classes  an  opportunity  of  deciding  what 
views  were  most  in  harmony  with  her  Scriptural  formu- 


72  HENRY  MARTYN. 

laries — those  of  Mr.  Martyn  or  those  of  his  antagonists. 

"Mr. ,"  he  says,  "to  the  great  satisfaction  of  all  serious 

people,  began  to  read  a  Homily  by  way  of  sermon ;  after 
stating  the  diversity  of  opinion  which  had  lately  pre- 
vailed in  the  pulpit."     And  again,  "at  the  New  Church 

I  read,   and    Mr. preached    the   second   and  tliird 

parts  of  the  Homily  on  salvation."  "The  very  clear 
exhibition  ol  Divine  truth  which  was  thus  presented  was 
very  rejoicing  to  our  hearts." 

On  the  13th  ot  September  Martyn  received  his 
appointment  to  Dinapore  ;  and  though  his  friends  en- 
treated him  to  remain  at  Calcutta,  and  offered  him  the 
old  Mission  Church  built  by  Kiernander — one  of  the 
missionaries  of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge,  and  the  salary  of  a  chaplain,  and  a  house 
besides,  he  was  deaf  to  all  such  proposals,  for  his  heart 
was  fixed  on  preaching  amongst  the  heathen  "  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ." 

At  the  beginning  of  October  he  prepared  to  leave  the 
family  of  his  true  Christian  friend,  the  Rev.  David 
Brown,  and  to  set  out  for  his  new  home  ;  but  before  his 
departure,  he  was  permitted,  to  his  great  joy,  to  welcome 
two  more  fellow-labourers  from  England,  who,  in  imita- 
tion of  his  self-denying  example,  had  turned  their  backs 
on  their  native  land.  "  I  went  down,"  he  says  in  his 
journal,  "  to  Calcutta,  where  we  had  the  happiness  of 
meeting  our  dear  brethren.  I  rode  out  with  them  in 
the  evening,  and  passed  most  of  the  time  conversing 
about  European   friends."      And    when   he   afterwards 


INDIA.  73 

heard  one  of  them,  Mr.  Corrie,  preach,  he  thus  expresses 
himself:  *' God  be  praised  for  another  witness  to  His 
truth.  Oh  may  abundant  grace  and  gifts  rest  on  my 
beloved  brother,  that  the  works  of  God  may  show  them- 
selves forth  in  him." 

Shortly  before  he  left  Aldeen,  several  of  his  friends 
assembled  in  his  pagoda  to  commend  him  to  God,  and 
to  implore  a  blessing  on  his  labours.  The  fact  of  such 
a  meeting  being  held  in  what  had  been  an  idol-temple 
seemed  to  be  an  omen  for  good,  and  to  hold  in  it  the 
germ  of  all  that  he  hoped  for  as  regarded  idolatrous 
India.  "  My  soul,"  he  said,  "  never  yet  had  such  Divine 
enjoyment.  I  felt  a  desire  to  break  from  the  body,  and 
join  the  high  praises  of  the  saints  above.  May  I  go  '  in 
the  strength  of  this  '  many  days.     Amen." 

On  the  15th  of  October,  after  taking  leave  of  the 
Church  at  Calcutta  in  a  farewell  sermon,  and  of  his 
friends  at  Aldeen  at  their  morning  family  worship,  he 
entered  his  budgerow, — a  travelling  boat  constructed 
like  a  pleasure-barge — which  was  to  convey  him  up  the 
Ganges  to  Dinapore.  His  brethren,  Mr.  Brown,  Mr. 
Corrie,  and  Mr.  Parsons,  accompanied  him  in  his  voyage 
up  the  river ;  and  as  Mr.  Marshman,  one  of  the  Baptist 
missionaries,  saw  them  pass  by  the  Mission  House,  he 
joined  the  party,  and  after  going  a  little  way,  left  them 
with  prayer.  The  day  after,  the  weather  becoming 
tempestuous,  his  friends  sadly  and  reluctantly  left  him 
to  pursue  his  voyage  alone.  It  was  a  trying  position, 
and  one  which  his  sensitive  spirit  felt  keenly.     "  I  was 


74  HENRY  MARTYN. 

left  alone,"  he  writes  in  his  journal,  "  for  the  first  time 
with  none  but  natives.  The  wind  and  rain  became  so 
violent  that  the  men  let  the  budgerow  stay  upon  the 
shore  the  whole  day,  which  in  consequence  of  beating 
on  the  ground,  leaked  so  much  that  the  men  were 
obliged  to  be  in  my  cabin  to  bale  her.  Read  with 
moonshee  one  of  the  tracts  which  he  had  himself  trans- 
lated from  the  Bengalee  into  verse.  Perceiving  him  to 
be  alarmed  at  the  violence  of  the  waves  beating  against 
the  boat,  I  began  to  talk  to  him  about  religion.  He 
began  by  saying,  '  May  God  be  our  Protector.'  This 
was  a  favourable  beginning.  The  hurricane  abated 
before  midnight,  through  mercy." 

The  voyage  up  the  Ganges  occupied  several  weeks,  from 
seventeen  to  twenty  miles  a  day  being  the  greatest  distance 
a  large  budgerow  can  be  towed  against  the  stream,  during 
the  fair  season.  During  this  time  he  studied  Hindustani 
and  Sanscrit, — read  with  his  moonshee ;  and  landing 
from  time  to  time  got  into  conversation  with  the  natives 
of  the  villages  where  the  boat  stopped  for  the  night.  In 
one  village  he  discovered  the  worshippers  of  Cali  by  the 
sound  of  their  drums  and  cymbals ;  and  the  Brahmin 
having  invited  him  to  walk  within  the  railing,  he  did 
so,  and  asked  a  few  questions  about  the  idol.  "  The 
Brahmin,  who  spoke  bad  Hindustani,  disputed  with 
great  heat,  and  his  tongue  ran  faster  than  I  could 
follow,  and  the  people,  who  were  about  one  hundred, 
shouted  applause.  But  I  continued  to  ask  my  questions 
without  making  any  remarks  upon  the  answers.    I  asked, 


INDIA.  75 

among  other  things,  whether  what  I  had  heard  of  Vishnu 
and  Brahma  was  true ;  which  he  confirmed.  I  forbore 
to  press  him  with  the  consequences  which  he  seemed 
to  feel,  and  so  I  told  him  what  was  my  belief.  The  man 
grew  quite  wild,  and  said  it  was  chula  bat  (good  words) 
and  asked  me  seriously  at  last  what  I  thought — "Was 
idol-worship  true  or  false  ?  "  I  felt  it  a  matter  of  thank- 
fulness that  I  could  make  known  the  truth  of  God, 
though  but  a  stammerer,  and  that  I  had  declared  it  in 
the  presence  of  the  devil ;  and  this  also  I  learnt,  that  the 
power  of  gentleness  is  irresistible.  I  never  was  more 
astonished  than  at  the  change  of  deportment  in  the 
hot-headed  Brahmin.  Read  the  Sanscrit  grammar  till 
bed-time." 

Then  follows  another  interesting  extract  from  his 
journal.  "  Came-to  on  the  eastern  bank  below  a  village 
called  Ahgadeep.  Wherever  I  walked  the  women  fled 
at  the  sight  of  me.  Some  men  were  sitting  under  the 
shed  dedicated  to  their  goddess,  and  a  lamp  was  burning 
in  her  place.  A  conversation  soon  began  ;  but  there 
was  no  one  who  could  speak  Hindustani,  so  all  I  could 
say  was  by  the  medium  of  my  Mussulman  Musalchee. 
They  said  that  they  only  did  as  others  did,  and,  if  they 
were  wrong,  then  all  Bengal  was  wrong.  I  felt  love  for 
their  souls,  and  longed  for  utterance  to  declare  unto 
those  poor  simple  people  the  holy  gospel.  I  think  that 
when  my  mouth  is  opened,  I  shall  preach  to  them  day 
and  night.  I  feel  that  they  are  my  brethren  in  the 
flesh,  precisely  on  a  level  with  myself." 


76  HENRY  MARTYN. 

We  see  from  these  passages  how  this  missionary  of 
the  Cross,  animated  by  the  very  spirit  of  his  Master, 
"forgetting  the  things  that  were  behind,  was  reaching 
forth  to  those  that  were  before,"  and  was  content  to  be 
estranged  from  all  his  old  associations,  and  to  live 
amongst  the  benighted  and  degraded,  "  if  by  any  means 
he  might  save  some."  Indeed,  his  journals  at  this  time 
reveal  a  mind  filled  with  an  ardour  for  the  salvation 
of  souls  akin  to  his  who,  as  the  tears  fell  hot  on  the 
page,  wrote  thus :  "  Many  walk  of  whom  I  have  told 
you  often,  and  now  tell  you  even  weeping,  that  they  are 
the  enemies  of  the  Cross  of  Christ," — a  mind  in  liveliest 
sympathy  with  His  who,  when  He  had  reached  the  brow 
of  Olivet  on  His  return  to  Jerusalem,  wept  over  the  city, 
saying,  "  If  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  this 
thy  day,  the  things  that  belong  unto  thy  peace  !  but  now 
they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes." 

He  arrived  in  the  afternoon  of  the  26th  of  November 
at  Dinapore,  but  did  not  immediately  go  on  shore.  As 
this  was  to  be  his  permanent  residence  for  some  time, 
he  began  at  once  to  reflect  how  he  could  best  work  for 
God.  Three  especial  objects  engaged  his  attention, — 
to  acquire  such  a  facility  in  speaking  Hindustani  as 
should  enable  him  to  preach  in  that  language ;  to  es- 
tablish native  schools  ;  and  to  prepare  translations  of  the 
Scriptures  and  religious  tracts  for  circulation.  During 
his  voyage  up  the  Ganges  he  had  employed  himself 
in  translating  the  Parables,  accompanied  by  remarks 
on  these  beautiful  stories  of  Christ.     He  knew  enough 


INDIA.  >j>j 

of  Hindustani  to  translate  with  grammatical  accuracy  ; 
and  he  had  his  moonshee  at  hand  to  suggest  the  proper 
idiom,  and  what  in  that  language  is  said  to  be  so 
difficult, — the  just  and  exact  allocation  of  the  words 
in  the  sentences.  iMartyn  represents  the  difficulties 
to  be  overcome  in  acquiring  the  languages  of  the 
country  to  be  very  great.  Passing  from  the  province 
of  Bengal  into  that  of  Bahar,  he  found  that  he  must 
learn  the  Baharee  as  well  as  the  Hindustani;  and 
the  Baharee  had  its  various  dialects.  The  people  of 
India  are  divided  into  thirty-five  different  states,  and 
speak  thirty  different  languages  ;  and  though  there  is  a 
close  affinity  between  these  tongues,  yet  a  book  in  the 
dialect  of  one  district  is  unintelligible  to  the  inhabitants 
of  another.  These,  and  many  other  difficulties  which 
lay  in  the  way  of  his  work,  could  not  fail  of  weighing 
oppressively  on  his  mind  ;  and  had  he  not  sought  and 
found  a  refuge  in  omnipotent  strength,  he  would  have 
been  overwhelmed  with  despair. 

In  what  spirit  he  entered  into  the  duties  that  now 
pressed  upon  him,  may  be  seen  in  his  account  of  the 
work  of  a  single  day.  As  the  best  method  of  gaining 
a  knowledge  of  the  various  Oriental  tongues,  the  study 
of  Sanscrit  was  recommended  to  him  by  his  pundit, 
and  to  this  study  the  extract  which  follows  has  reference. 
"  Morning  with  pundit,  in  Sanscrit.  In  the  afternoon, 
hearing  a  parable  in  the  Bahar  dialect.  Continued  till 
late  at  night  in  writing  on  the  Parables.  My  soul 
much  impressed  with  the  immeasurable  importance  of 


78  HENRY  MARTYN. 

my  work,  and  the  wickedness  and  cruelty  of  wasting  a 
moment  when  so  many  nations  are,  as  it  were,  waiting 
till  I  do  my  work.  Felt  eager  for  the  morning  to  come 
again  that  I  might  resume  my  work." 

His  study  of  Sanscrit  was  rendered  less  agreeable  than 
it  might  have  been  by  the  objections  of  his  moonshee 
and  pundit, — the  one  Mussulman,  and  the  other  Brah- 
min. Their  observations  often  presented  a  strange  and 
affecting  display  of  ignorance  and  intolerance.  "  Upon 
showing,"  he  says,  "the  moonshee  the  first  part  of 
John  iii.,  he  instantly  caught  at  those  words  of  our  Lord, 
in  which  He  first  describes  Himself  as  having  come 
down  from  heaven,  and  then  calls  Himself  the  Son  of 
man  which  is  in  heaven.  He  said  this  was  what  the 
philosophers  called  '  nickal,'  or  impossible,  even  for 
God  to  make  a  thing  to  be  in  two  different  places  at 
the  same  time."  Martyn  explained  to  him  how  the 
difficulty  attending  the  incarnation  lay  not  so  much  in 
conceiving  how  the  Son  of  man  could  be  at  the  same 
time  in  two  different  places,  as  in  comprehending  that 
union  of  the  two  natures  in  Him  which  made  this  pos- 
sible. He  told  him  that  the  union  could  not  be  ex- 
plained, but  that  the  wisdom  and  the  mercy  of  God  was 
manifested  in  thus  accomplishing  the  redemption  of  a 
guilty  world.  He  had  reason  for  thinking  that  the 
explanation  given  was  not  without  effect.  "  I  was  much 
at  a  loss  for  words,  but  I  believe  he  collected  my  mean- 
ing, and  received  some  information  which  he  possessed 
not  before."     In   another  place   he   says    "  In  reading 


INDIA.  79 

some  parts  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  John  to  my  moonshee,  he 
seemed  to  view  them  with  great  contempt ;  so  far  above 
the  wisdom  of  the  world  is  their  Divine  simplicity  !  The 
moonshee  told  me  at  night,  that  when  the  pundit  carne 
to  the  part  about  the  angels  '  separating  the  evil  from 
the  good,'  he  said,  with  some  surprise,  that  there  was 
no  such  thing  in  his  Shaster,  but  that,  at  the  end  of 
the  world,  the  sun  would  come  so  near  as  first  to 
burn  all  the  men,  then  the  mountains,  then  the  '  debtas  ' 
(inferior  gods),  then  the  waters  :  then  God,  reducing 
Himself  to  the  size  of  a  thumb-nail,  would  swim  on  the 
leaf  of  the  pupul  tree." 

Religious  discussions  between  Mr.  Martyn,  his  moon- 
shee, and  pundit,  were  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  and 
the  record  of  them  is  full  of  interest,  as  not  only  throwing 
light  on  his  character,  but  on  the  nature  of  the  work  to 
be  done  by  a  missionary  in  India.  In  giving  a  conver- 
sation with  his  moonshee  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
and  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  in  which  he  grew  angry,  and 
felt  tired  and  vexed,  he  says:— "If  any  qualification 
seems  necessary  to  a  missionary  in  India,  it  is  wisdom 
operating  in  the  regulation  of  the  temper,  and  im- 
provement of  opportunities."  Another  extract  from  his 
journals  must  be  given,  as  it  shows  the  kind  of  people 
among  whom  the  missionary  work  is  to  be  carried  on. 
"  Dictating  to-day  the  explanation  of  a  parable  to  the 
moonshee,  I  had  occasion  to  give  the  proofs  of  the  cor- 
ruption of  human  nature,  and  drew  the  conclusion  that 
hence,  till  our  hearts  are  changed,  we  are  abominable 


8o  HENRY  MARTYN, 

in  the  sight  of  God,  and  our  own  works,  however  useful 
to  man,  are  worthless  in  His  sight.  I  think  I  never  saw- 
such  a  striking  instance  of  the  truth  grappling  with 
human  nature.  He  seemed  like  a  fish  when  he  first 
finds  the  hook  has  hold  of  him  :  he  was  in  a  dreadful 
rage,  and  endeavoured  to  escape  from  the  conviction 
those  truths  produced,  but  seemingly  in  vain.  At  last, 
recovering  himself,  he  said  he  had  a  question  to  ask, 
which  was,  "  What  would  become  of  children  if  the  dis- 
position they  are  born  with  rendered  them  odious  in  the 
sight  of  God  ?  I  gave  him  the  best  answer  I  could,  but 
he  considered  it  as  nothing,  because  founded  on  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  said  with  great  contempt,  that  this  was  mere 
matter  of  faith,  the  same  sort  of  thing  as  when  the  Hin- 
doos believed  the  nonsense  of  their  Shasters. 

The  commencement  of  Mr.  Martyn's  ministry  amongst 
his  countrymen  at  Dinapore  was  not  of  such  a  kind 
as  either  to  gratify  or  to  cheer  him.  Their  levity  and 
profaneness,  their  disregard  of  religion,  their  mind  so 
opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  Christianity  which  they 
professed,  caused  him  the  deepest  sorrow  and  trouble. 
When  he  first  began  his  duties  as  chaplain,  he  read 
prayers  to  the  soldiers  at  the  barracks  on  the  long  drum ; 
and  as  there  was  no  place  to  sit,  he  was  desired  to  omit 
the  sermon.  After  a  time  he  made  arrangements  for  the 
more  decorous  celebration  of  Divine  service ;  and  some 
of  the  families  residing  at  the  station  assembled  on  the 
Sunday,  and  availed  themselves  of  Mr.  Martyn's  minis- 
trations.    By  many  of  these  offence  was  taken  that  he 


INDTA.  8l 

did  not  read  to  them  a  written  sermon  ;  and  overstep- 
ping the  Hmits  of  propriety  and  respect,  they  asked  him 
to  desist  from  Qxtempore  preaching.  Although  he  at  first 
felt  displeased  and  annoyed  at  such  a  request,  yet  for 
the  sake  of  conciliation  he  by7and-by  returned  the 
answer, — perhaps  a  little  flavoured  with  sarcasm,— that 
"  he  would  give  them  a  folio  sermon-book,  if  they  would 
receive  the  word  of  God  on  that  account." 

His  very  endeavours  at  this  time  to  bring  the  gospel 
to  bear  upon  the  heathen  excited  the  jealousy  and  dread 
of  some  of  the  irreligious  of  his  countrymen,  lest  he 
should  excite  a  tumult  amongst  the  natives :  as  if  the 
gosi)el  of  the  grace  of  God  could  do  anything  but  still 
the  passions  of  the  human  heart,  or  introduce  anything 
but  peace  and  goodwill  where  it  is  received.  Such  fears 
have  always  been  rife  amongst  men  of  the  world  ;  and 
many  a  statesman  has  opposed  the  work  of  missions, 
and  in  their  alarm  have  checked  the  advance  of  Christ's 
kingdom,  instead  of  looking  on  the  gospel  as  the  true 
and  only  remedy  for  the  evils  that  afflict  mankind.  The 
gospel  is  the  true  pioneer  of  civilization,  and  every  friend 
of  humanity  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  give  the  world 
that  knowledge  of  Christ  which  can  humanise  the  bar- 
barous and  elevate  the  debased.  The  wise  of  the  world 
look  to  other  agencies  for  the  regeneration  of  mankind, 
to  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  the  progress  of  science, 
the  advance  of  education,  the  introduction  of  the  useful 
arts  ;-  but  none  of  these  can  change  the  heart,  and  renew 
the  nature,  can  curb  the  passions,  or  refine  the  aftections; 

G 


82  HENRY  MARTYN, 

and  it  is  found  now  as  ever,  that  "the  foolishness  of  God 
is  wiser  than  men,  and  the  weakness  of  God  is  stronger 
than  men."  He  is  the  wisest  philanthropist,  as  well  as 
the  truest  Christian,  who,  with  weapons  that  are  '•'  not 
carnal,  but  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of 
strongholds,"  attacks  Satan  within  his  entrenchments, 
and  proves  by  the  result  that  "  the  seed  of  the  woman  " 
can  still  "  bruise  the  serpent's  head." 

The  moral  character  of  the  natives  shocked  and  dis- 
tressed him ;  and  so  great  was  their  looseness  of  prin- 
ciple that  their  conversion  to  nominal  Christianity — their 
becoming  "  Feringees  " — would  have  been  a  matter  of 
little  or  no  difficulty.  Bat  this  was  not  his  object ;  and 
unless  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  they  were  truly 
penitent  and  believing,  he  had  neither  the  wish  nor  the 
inclination  to  baptize  them,  though  all  the  Brahmins' 
and  Rajahs'  country  came  to  him  for  baptism.  He 
imagined  that  they  regarded  him  with  enmity  and  dis- 
like ;  and  his  meek  and  tender  spirit  was  grieved  and 
pained  as  he  feared  he  was  the  object  of  their  contempt. 
Hence  this  mingled  burst  of  sorrow  and  hope,  which, 
proceeding  from  a  heart  overcharged  with  grief,  found 
expression  in  the  following  words : — "  Here  every  native 
I  meet  is  an  enemy  to  me  because  I  am  an  Englishman. 
England  appears  almost  a  heaven  upon  earth,  because 
there  one  is  not  viewed  as  an  unjust  intruder.  But  oh, 
the  heaven  of  my  God,  '  the  general  assembly  of  the  first- 
born, the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,' — and  Jesus! 
oh,  let  me  for  a  little  while  labour,  and  suffer  reproach." 


INDIA.  83 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1807,  we  find  him  em- 
ployed morning  and  evening  on  the  Sanscrit  grammar, 
and  in  the  afternoon  on  a  translation  of  the  Parables. 
In  the  month  of  February  he  had  translated  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  into  Hindustani,  a  work,  as  his  bio- 
grapher truly  says,  "  that  would  have  been  worth  living 
for,  if  he  had  lived  for  nothing  else."  He  was  thus 
enabled  in  the  month  of  March  to  begin  a  service  in  the 
vernacular  tongue  of  India,  at  which  about  two  hundred 
women,  Portuguese,  Roman  Catholics,  and  Mahometans 
attended  in  eager  crowds. 

His  principal  success  amongst  the  Europeans  to  whom 
he  ministered,  was  with  the  sick  whom  he  attended  in 
the  hospital.  The  upper  ranks  stood  aloof  from  him, 
and  treated  his  efforts  for  their  welfare  with  coldness 
or  opposition.  In  vain  did  he  endeavour  to  introduce 
religious  topics  into  conversation.  "  I  spoke,"  said  he, 
after  visiting  some  of  these,  "  several  times  about  religion 
to  them,  but  the  manner  in  which  it  was  received 
damped  all  further  attempt."  There  was  but  a  small 
number  of  chaplains  in  India  in  those  days,  and  con- 
sequently Martyn  was  sometimes  obliged  to  travel  so 
many  as  seventy  miles  in  order  to  read  the  marriage 
service  ;  but  on  these  occasions  he  always  sought  and 
found  opportunities  of  advancing  his  Master's  claims. 

He  erected  five  schools  at  Dinapore  solely  at  his  own 
expense,  but  these  gave  him  after  a  time  some  anxiety. 
A  report  was  spread  that  he  intended  to  seize  upon  the 
children  and  compel  them  to  become  Christians.     The 


84  HENRY  MARTYN. 

school  at  Patna  immediately  fell  off  in  numbers,  and 
diminished  from  forty  children  to  eight ;  and  at  Dina- 
pore  no  site  could  be  obtained  from  the  Zemindar  for  the 
erection  of  a  schoolroom.  For  the  purpose  of  soothing 
the  agitation,  he  went  to  Patna  in  order  to  explain  his 
sentiments  and  remove  the  foolish  and  groundless  alarm. 

In  addition  to  his  other  troubles  he  had  the  pain  of 
seeing  there  a  servant  of  the  Company,  a  man  advanced 
in  years  and  of  some  social  standing,  who  had  openly 
denied  the  faith,  and  professed  his  adhesion  to  Ma- 
hometanism.  He  had  built  a  mosque  of  his  own,  which, 
as  the  season  when  Martyn  visited  Patna  was  the 
Mohurrun,  was  adorned  with  flags  ;  and  being  illumin- 
ated at  night  proclaimed  the  shame  of  the  offender. 
Martyn  did  not  fail  to  rebuke  the  apostate,  seeking  to 
awaken  his  slumbering  conscience  with  the  warning 
words  :  "  Remember  whence  thou  art  fallen,"  and  urging 
him  to  consider  that  "  the  Son  of  God  had  died  for 
sinners." 

He  found  when  he  reached  Patna  that  the  school 
was  deserted.  Neither  children  nor  teacher  were  to 
be  found.  The  people,  however,  quickly  gathered  in 
crowds;  and  such  was  the  effect  of  Martyn's  explan- 
ations, his  temperate  arguments  and  mild  expostulations, 
that  all  their  fears  were  removed,  and  in  a  few  days  the 
children  returned  to  the  schools  at  Patna  and  Dinapore. 

Towards  the  latter  end  of  March  he  finished  his 
translation  of  a  Commentary  on  the  Parables.  "  The 
little  book  of  the  Parables,"  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Corrie,  "  is 


INDIA.  85 

finished,  through  the  blessing  of  God.  I  cannot  say  I 
am  well  pleased  on  the  re-perusal  of  it;  but  yet,  con- 
taining as  it  does  such  large  portions  of  the  word  of 
God,  I  ought  not  to  doubt  its  accomplishing  that  which 
He  pleaseth." 

Mr.  Martyn's  duties  on  the  Sunday  had  now  increased, 
consisting  of  one  service  at  seven  in  the  morning  to  the 
Europeans,  another  at  two  in  the  afternoon  to  the 
Hindoos,  and  an  attendance  at  the  hospital ;  after  which, 
in  the  evening,  he  ministered  privately  at  his  own  rooms 
to  the  soldiers  who  wished  to  be  better  instructed  in  the 
things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  With  such  of 
these  as  attended  regularly  at  his  house  on  the  Sunday 
evening  and  other  evenings  of  the  week,  he  enjoyed 
much  spiritual  communion.  The  number  was  very 
small  at  first,  amounting  at  the  most  to  five ;  sometimes 
no  more  than  one  was  able  to  attend,  but  with  him  he 
gladly  joined  in  prayer  and  praise  and  the  reading  of  the 
word,  and  the  "  two  met  together  in  the  Saviour's 
name"  felt  Him  to  be  present  in  their  midst.  Over 
some  of  the  officers  stationed  at  Dinapore  he  began  to 
rejoice,  and  of  one  of  these,  who  from  the  first  had 
treated  him  with  the  kindness  of  a  father,  he,  at  this 
time,  formed  "  expectations  which  soon  ripened  into  a 
dehghtful  certainty  that  he  had  turned  with  full  purpose 
of  heart  to  the  Lord." 

Had  Martyn  allowed  himself  to  be  carried  away  on 
the  strong  and  overflowing  current  of  his  zeal  and  love, 
it  would  have  borne  him  into  the  streets  of  Patna  with 


86  HENRY  MARTYN. 

the  Bible  in  liis  hand.  This  would  have  cost  him  much, 
as  he  owns  to  Mr.  Corrie,  and  he  felt  keenly  the  con- 
tempt to  which  it  would  have  exposed  him  from  those  to 
whom  the  gospel  was  a  stumbling-block  and  an  offence. 
But  he  was  ready  to  endure  the  loss  of  all  things  for 
Christ's  sake.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Corrie,  he  says  :  "Oh 
that  the  time  were  come  that  I  should  be  able  to  carry 
the  war  into  the  en.^my's  territory.  It  will  be  a  severe 
trial  to  the  flesh,  my  dear  brother,  for  us  both ;  but  it  is 
sufficient  for  the  disciple  to  be  as  his  Master,  and  the 
servant  as  his  Lord.  We  shall  be  '  accounted  as  the 
filth  of  the  world,  and  the  offscouring  of  all  things.' " 

To  the  free  and  frank  correspondence  carried  on 
weekly  with  Mr.  Corrie  he  was  indebted  for  much  of 
the  happiness  of  his  life  at  this  time.  He  ranked  it 
amongst  his  richest  blessings  to  have  such  a  friend  near 
him  in  such  a  country ;  for,  with  the  exception  of  his 
other  brethren  in  India  with  whom  he  statedly  corre- 
sponded every  quarter,  and  often  also  at  other  times,  he 
had  no  one  like-minded  who  would  naturally  care  for 
the  evangelization  of  the  heathen.  In  this  Mr.  Corrie 
was  of  one  heart  and  of  one  mind  with  himself. 

Both  the  health  of  Mr.  Martyn  and  of  his  friend,  Mr. 
Corrie,  suffered  from  the  weakening  effects  of  the  climate, 
the  thermometer  at  Dinapore  being  92°  in  the  shade, 
while  at  Chunar  the  heat  was  still  more  intense.  But 
in  addition  to  this  Martyn  injured  himself  by  his  habits 
of  abstinence.  He  ever  observed  with  great  strictness 
the  holy  seasons  set  apart  by  the  Church  for  fasting  and 


INDIA.  87 

prayer;  but  the  languid  state  to  which  he  was  now 
reduced  convinced  him  that  this  bodily  asceticism  added 
to  his  mental  strain  was  injurious  to  his  health,  and  there- 
fore he  discontinued  it.  He  was  wise  enough  to  temper 
his  zeal  with  caution,  and  to  feel  that  if  he  transgressed 
any  of  the  laws  which  nature  imposed,  he  must  be  the 
sufferer.  Fasting,  in  itself,  is  but  a  means  to  an  end ; 
and  if  through  the  exhaustion  of  the  powers  it  makes  the 
spirit  less  active,  less  willing,  less  ready  for  service,  it 
becomes  an  evil  and  not  a  good,  and  comes  under  the 
condemnation  of  that  "  bodily  exercise  which  profiteth 
httle."  It  may  have  been  owing  to  his  habits  of  severe 
abstinence,  and  the  weakness  in  consequence  super- 
induced, that  we  find  so  much  of  introspection  in  Mar- 
tyn's  journals  accompanied  by  depression,  and  that  often 
*'  the  consolations  of  God  "  seem  at  least  to  be  "  small." 
For  instance,  towards  the  middle  of  April,  just  before  he 
receives  a  call  from  his  labours  at  Dinapore  to  Monghir 
to  perform  the  marriage  ceremony,  he  writes  :  "  My 
mind  much  as  usual ;  not  tried  by  any  violent  assault 
of  sin  or  Satan,  but  the  daily  cause  of  grief  and  shame ; 
and  indeed  the  root  of  all  sin  is  forgetfulness  of  God.  I 
perceive  not  in  what  state  I  have  been  till  I  come  to 
pray."  "  Satan  assaults  me  in  various  ways :  some  of 
his  darts  respecting  the  person  of  my  Lord  were  dread- 
fully severe,  but  he  triumphed  not  a  moment.  I  am 
taught  to  see  what  would  become  of  me  if  God  should 
withdraw  His  strong  hand.  Is  there  any  depth  into 
which  Satan  would  not  plunge  me  ?  "     "  In  prayer  had 


88  HENRY  MARTYN. 

an  affecting  sense  of  my  shameful  ingratitude.  Had  I 
behaved  thus  to  an  earthly  benefactor,  showing  so  little 
regard  for  his  company  and  his  approbation,  how  should 
I  abhor  myself  and  be  abhorred  by  all  !  How  astonish- 
ingly rich  in  grace,  bearing  all  with  unceasing  patience, 
and  doing  nothing  but  crown  His  sinful  creature  with 
loving-kindness  and  tender  mercies  ! '' 

His  journals,  however,  are  not  all  in  this  strain  of 
self-condemnation.  There  are  occasions  when  he  takes 
his  harp  from  the  willows,  and  strikes  the  chords  to  more 
joyful  notes. 

April  2ist.  "  Again  the  love  and  mercy  of  the  Lord 
restored  me  to  health  and  spirits.  Began  to  write  a 
sermon  on  walking  in  Christ,  and  found  ray  soul  bene- 
fited by  meditation  on  the  subject.  In  the  afternoon 
went  on  with  translation.  Arrived  at  sunset  at  Monghir." 
April  26th.  "  In  prayer,  at  the  appointed  hour  I  felt 
solemnity  of  mind,  and  an  earnest  desire  that  the  Lord 
would  pour  out  a  double  portion  of  His  Spirit  upon  all 
His  ministers  in  India  ;  that  every  one  of  us  may  be 
eminent  in  holiness  and  ministerial  gifts."  "  Passed  the 
day  in  reading  and  prayer,  such  as  my  prayers  are.  My 
soul  struggled  with  corrupdon,  yet  I  found  the  merit  and 
grace  of  Jesus  all-sufficient,  and  all-supporting." 

Martyn,  as  we  have  seen,  had  devoted  much  time  to 
the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  Hindustani,  both 
before  and  since  he  quitted  Calcutta.  A  proposal  was 
made  by  the  Rev.  David  Brown,  in  the  June  of  this 
year,  that  he  would  press  on  with  this  important  work. 


INDIA,  89 

and  also  superintend  a  translation  into  Persian.     He  had 
been  endeavouring  for  some  time  to  master  the  Persian 
tongue,  because  he  had  been  told  that  this  language  was 
understood    and  spoken  from   Dinapore   to  Damascus. 
Mr.    Brown's  proposal  was  eagerly  accepted,  and   ani- 
mated by  the  hope  of  seeing  his  labours  brought  to  a 
successful  close,  he  pursued  them,  not  only  with  dili- 
gence but  delight.     "  The  time  fled   imperceptibly,"  he 
remarks:  "so  delightfully  engaged  in  the   translations, 
the  days  seemed  to  have  passed  like  a  moment.     Blessed 
be  God  for  some  improvement  in  the  languages  !     May 
everything  be  for  edification  in  the  Church  !     What  do  I 
not  owe  to  the  Lord  for  permitting  me  to  take  part  in  a 
translation  of  His  word  !     Never  did  I  see  such  wonder 
and  wisdom  and  love  in  the   blessed  Book,  as  since  I 
have  been  obliged  to  study  every  expression ;   and  it  is 
a  delightful  reflection  that  death  cannot  deprive  us  of 
the  pleasure  of  studying  its  mysteries." 

It  was  well  for  himself  that  he  was  now  so  actively 
employed,  and  that  he  found  such  perpetual  pleasure  in 
the  Book  of  God  ;  for  a  new  sorrow  came  upon  him, 
more  bitter  than  any  which  had  befallen  him  since  the 
death  of  his  father.  Letters  from  England  brought  the 
intelligence  that  his  eldest  sister  was  dead.  He  had 
been  partly  prepared  for  the  news  by  some  expressions 
which  liad  dropped  from  her  pen  in  a  letter  that  reached 
him  only  a  few  weeks  before.  And  now  the  suspense 
ended  in  the  inexpressible  sense  of  his  loss.  He  was 
only  supported  under  the  bereavement  by  the  knowledge 


90  HENRY  MARTYN. 

that  she  had  passed  through  death  unto  life,  and  had 
entered  through  the  shadows  of  the  dark  valley  into  the 
light  and  glory  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 

" O  my  heart,  my  heart !  "  he  says  :  "is  it,  can  it  be 
true  that  she  has  been  lying  so  many  months  in  the  cold 
grave  ?  Would  that  I  could  always  remember  it,  or 
always  forget  it ;  but  to  think  for  a  moment  of  other 
things,  and  then  to  feel  the  remembrance  of  it  come  as 
if  for  the  first  time,  rends  my  heart  asunder.  O  great 
and  gracious  God  !  what  should  I  do  without  Thee  ? 
But  now  Thou  art  manifesting  Thyself  as  the  God  of  all 
consolation  to  my  soul,  never  was  I  so  near  to  Thee.  I 
stand  on  the  brink,  and  long  to  take  my  flight !  There 
is  not  a  thing  in  the  world  for  which  I  would  wish  to  live, 
except  because  it  may  please  God  to  appoint  me  some 
work.  And  how  shall  my  soul  be  ever  thankful  enough 
to  Thee,  O  Thou  mozt  incomprehensibly  glorious  Saviour 
Jesus  !  O  what  hast  Thou  done  to  alleviate  the  sorrows 
of  life  !  And  how  great  has  been  the  mercy  of  God 
towards  my  family,  in  saving  us  all  !  How  dreadful 
would  be  the  separation  of  relations  in  death,  were  it 
not  for  Jesus  ! "  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Brown  he  says  : 
*'  This  "  (the  knowledge  that  his  sister  had  died  in  the 
Lord),  "  this  you  will  tell  me,  my  dear  Mr.  Brown,  is 
precious  consolation ;  indeed,  I  am  constrained  to 
acknowledge  that  I  could  hardly  ask  for  greater,  for  I 
had  already  parted  with  her  for  ever  in  this  life  ;  and 
after  that,  all  I  wished  for  was,  to  hear  of  her  being 
converted  to  God,  and  if  it  were  His  will,  taken  away  in 


INDIA,  91 

due  time  from  the  evil  to  come,  and  brought  to  glory 
before  me.  Yet  human  nature  bleeds ;  her  departure 
has  left  this  world  a  frightful  blank  to  me ;  and  I  feel 
not  the  smallest  wish  to  live  except  there  be  some  work 
assigned  for  me  to  do  in  the  Church  of  God." 

Acutely  as  Martyn  suffered  in  this  season  of  trial, 
yet  did  he  not  allow  his  sorrow  to  interfere  with  his 
studies ;  he  pursued  them  with  all  his  old  eagerness  with 
but  the  omission  of  a  single  day.  He  thought  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  return  to  his  work  at  once ;  and  no  doubt  he 
felt  relief  in  an  occupation  which  kept  his  mind  on  the 
word  of  God.  "  My  studies,"  he  writes,  "  have  been 
the  Arabic  grammar,  and  Persian,  writing  Luke  for  the 
women,  and  dictating  i  Peter  i.  to  moonshee.  Finished 
the  Gulistan  of  Sadi,  and  began  it  again  to  mark  all  the 
phrases  that  may  be  of  use  in  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures."  One  fruit  of  his  prayers,  and  a  hai)py 
result  of  a  right  judgment,  was  the  successful  introduc- 
tion of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  into  his  schools  ;  and 
on  the  2 1  St  of  September,  he  had  the  great  joy  of 
hearing  the  poor  heathen  boys  reading  the  Saviour's 
words.  His  heart  now  burned  with  the  desire  to  preach 
publicly  to  the  natives,  but  he  felt  the  importance  of  not 
being  precipitate,  and  so  he  slacked,  but  with  some 
difficulty,  the  fervour  of  his  zeal.  He  would  do  nothing 
until  he  saw  what  his  schools  and  the  quiet  circulation 
of  the  Scriptures  might  effect,  hoping  that  the  way  by 
means  of  these  might  be  gradually  opened  for  the 
preaching  of  the   gospel.     It  was  his  desire  to    watch 


92  HENRY  MARTYN. 

the  success  of  his  plans  that  influenced  him  to  decline 
a  pressing  invitation  from  Mr.  Brown,  urging  him  to 
take  the  Missionary  Church  at  the  Presidency.  But 
Dinapore  was  in  the  midst  of  the  heathen,  and  here  he 
could  enjoy  as  much  retirement  as  he  pleased.  "  If 
ever  I  am  found  at  Calcutta,"  he  wrote  in  reply,  '*  I  have 
done  with  the  natives,  for  notwithstanding  previous 
determinations,  the  churches  and  people  are  enough  to 
employ  twenty  ministers.  This  is  one  reason  for  my 
apparently  unconquerable  aversion  to  being  fixed  there. 
The  happiness  of  being  near,  and  with  you,  and  your 
dear  family,  would  not  be  a  compensation  for  the  disap- 
pointment ;  and  having  said  this,  I  know  of  no  stronger 
method  of  my  expressing  my  dislike  to  the  measure.  If 
God  commands  it,  I  trust  I  shall  have  grace  to  obey ;  but 
let  me  beseech  you  all  to  take  no  step  towards  it,  for  I 
shall  resist  it  as  long  as  I  can  with  a  safe  conscience." 

In  addition  to  his  other  afflictions,  he  at  this  time  met 
with  a  severe  trial  in  the  disappointment  of  a  hope  which 
he  had  long  cherished.  Friends  whose  judgment  he 
valued  had  so  strongly  represented  the  dreariness  of  a 
distant  station  in  India,  and  the  evils  of  solitude,  that  he 
was  again  induced  to  make  an  offer  of  marriage  to  the 
lady  for  whom  time  had  increased,  rather  tlian  weakened, 
his  attachment.  He  had  continued  to  correspond  with 
Miss  Grenfell,  and  his  letters  tell  how  much  he  felt  their 
separation,  and  through  what  struggles  he  reached  re- 
signation. He  was  ever  hoping  that  she  would  join  him 
in  his  Indian  home  ;  and  he  longed  for  her  presence  the 


INDIA.  93 

more  because  he  believed  that  their  union  would  increase 
his  usefulness  in  the  missionary  work.  "  My  own  earthly 
comfort  and  happiness,"  he  writes,  "are  not  worth  a 
moment's  notice.  I  would  not  influence  you  by  any 
artifices,  or  false  representations.  I  can  only  say,  that  if 
you  have  a  desire  of  being  instrumental  in  establishing 
the  blessed  Redeemer's  kingdom  among  these  poor 
people,  and  will  condescend  to  it  by  supporting  the 
spirit,  and  animating  the  zeal  of  a  weak  messenger  of 
the  Lord  who  is  apt  to  grow  very  dispirited  and  lan- 
guid,— come,  and  the  Lord  be  with  you.  It  can  be 
nothing  but  a  sacrifice  on  your  part  to  leave  your 
valuable  friends  to  come  to  one  who  is  utterly  unworthy 
of  you,  or  of  any  other  of  God's  precious  gifts  :  but  you 
will  have  your  reward;  and  I  ask  it  not  of  you  or  of 
God  for  the  sake  of  my  own  happiness,  but  only  on 
account  of  the  gospel." 

The  answer  to  this  letter  was  one  which  entered  like 
iron  into  his  soul.  Miss  Grenfell  refused  to  leave  Eng- 
land, partly,  at  least,  on  her  mother's  account,  who  was 
naturally  unwilling  to  be  separated  from  her  daughter, 
and  partly,  it  appears,  from  other  reasons.  In  Mr. 
Simeon's  Life  there  is  given  an  entry  from  his  journal, 
in  which,  referring  to  Miss  Grenfell,  he  says :  "  She 
stated  to  me  all  the  obstacles  to  his  (Martyn's)  proposals: 
first,  her  health  ;  the  second,  the  indelicacy  of  her  going 
out  to  India  alone  on  such  an  errand ;  third,  her  former 
engagement  with  another  person,  which  had  indeed  been 
broken  off,  and  he  had  actually  gone  up  to  London  two 


94  HENRY  MARTYN. 

years  ago  to  be  married  to  another  woman,  but  as  he 
was  unmarried  it  seemed  an  obstacle  in  her  mind  ; 
fourth,  the  certainty  that  her  mother  would  never  con- 
sent to  it.  On  these  points  I  observed  that  I  thought 
the  last  was  the  only  one  that  was  insurmountable." 

Martyn's  refuge  in  this  sharp  sorrow  was,  as  it  had 
been  on  former  occasions,  in  prayer.  ''The  Lord 
sanctify  this ;  and  since  this  last  desire  of  my  heart  is 
also  withheld,  may  I  turn  away  for  ever  from  the  world, 
and  henceforth  live  forgetful  of  all  but  God.  With 
Thee,  O  my  God,  is  no  disappointment.  I  shall  never 
have  to  regret  that  I  have  loved  Thee  too  well.  Thou 
hast  said,  '  Delight  thyself  in  the  Lord,  and  He  shall 
give  thee  the  desires  of  thy  heart.'  " 

"  At  first,"  he  wrote  some  time  afterward,  "  I  was 
more  grieved  at  the  loss  of  my  gourd,  than  of  the 
perishing  Ninevehs  all  around  me ;  but  now  my  earthly 
woes  and  earthly  attachments  seem  to  be  absorbing  in 
the  vast  concern  of  communicating  the  gospel  to  these 
nations.  After  this  last  lesson  from  God  on  the  vanity 
of  the  creature,  I  feel  desirous  to  be  nothing, — to  have 
nothing, — to  ask  for  nothing  but  what  He  gives." 

Providentially  for  Martyn's  consolation,  his  thoughts 
were  soon  much  occupied  by  the  arrival  of  his  fellow- 
helpers  in  the  work  of  translation.  One  of  them,  Mirza, 
of  Benares,  was  well  known  in  India  as  an  eminent 
scholar  in  Hindustani ;  the  other,  Sabat,  the  Arabian, 
was  but  too  well  known  both  in  India  and  England  for 
his  rejection  of  that  faith  which  he  then  appeared  to 


INDIA,  95 

hold  in  sincerity  and  truth.  Martyn  hoped  that  he  had 
found  in  this  man  a  Christian  brother,  as  there  was  every 
reason  to  beUeve  him  a  true  convert,  and  a  most  favour- 
able report  had  been  given  of  his  abilities  by  Dr.  Ker, 
of  Madras.  He  was  said  to  be  a  man  of  good  family 
in  Arabia,  who  had  been  employed  as  an  expounder 
of  Mahometan  law  at  Masulipatam,  and  as  being  well 
skilled  in  the  literature  of  the  country.  Though  Martyn 
soon  discovered  in  him  signs  of  an  unsubdued  Arab 
spirit,  and  witnessed  with  pain  many  things  inconsistent 
with  a  Christian  temper  and  conduct,  yet  still  he  hoped 
even  against  hope,  and  continued  to  show  him  un- 
paralleled kindness  and  forbearance.  So  the  months 
flew  on,  one  day  telling  another;  Martyn  always  engaged 
in  his  Master's  business :  sometimes  with  a  mind  de- 
pressed by  "  fightings  without  and  fears  within " ; 
sometimes  crying  out  of  the  depths ;  sometimes  utter- 
ing thanks  from  the  fulness  of  a  grateful  heart.  His 
chief  source  of  consolation  at  this  time  apart  from  his 
work  arose  from  his  correspondence  with  his  Christian 
friends  at  Calcutta,  Mr.  Brown  and  Mr.  Corrie,  and 
from  letters  from  his  sister  in  England.  So  ended  the 
year  1808  ;  and  in  the  month  of  April,  1809,  he  was 
removed  from  Dinapore  to  Cawnpore,  several  hundred 
miles  farther  from  Calcutta,  and  where  there  was  as  yet 
no  church  for  the  performance  of  Divine  worship.  The 
change  was  in  many  respects  unpleasant  to  him,  but  in 
this,  as  in  every  other  arrangement  over  which  he  had 
not  the  control,  "patience  had  in  him  its  perfect  work." 


A 


CHAPTER   V. 

CA  WNPORE. 

[1809-11.] 

T  Cawnpore  he  was  welcomed  most  cordially  by 
Captain  Sherwood  and  his  wife,  a  lady  whose 
literary  works  are  well  known,  and  whose  pen  was  always 
employed  in  advancing  that  sacred  cause  for  which 
Martyn  lived  and  laboured  and  was  ready  to  die. 

Mrs.  Sherwood  thus  writes  of  his  arrival  at  this  new 
station  :  "  The  month  of  April  in  the  upper  provinces  of 
Hindustan  is  one  of  the  most  dreadful  months  for  travel- 
ling throughout  the  year ;  indeed,  no  European  at  that 
time  can  remove  from  place  to  place,  but  at  the  hazard  of 
his  life.  But  Mr.  Martyn  had  that  anxiety  to  be  at  the 
work  which  his  Heavenly  Father  had  given  him  to  do, 
that  notwithstanding  the  violent  heat,  he  travelled  from 
Chunar  to  Cawnpore,  the  space  of  about  four  hundred 
miles.  At  that  time,  I  well  remember,  the  air  was  as  hot 
and  dry  as  that  which  I  have  sometimes  felt  near  the 
mouth  of  a  large  oven.  No  friendly  cloud  or  verdant 
carpet  of  grass  to  relieve  the  eye  from  the  strong  glare  of 
the  rays  of  the  sun  pouring  on  the  sandy  plains  of  the 
Ganges.  Thus  Mr.  Martyn  travelled,  journeying  night 
and  day,  and  arrived  at  Cawnpore  in  such  a  state  that  he 

g6 


CA  WNPORE.  97 

fainted  away  as  soon  as  he  entered  the  house.  When 
we  charged  him  with  the  rashness  of  hazarding  in  this 
manner  his  hfe,  he  always  pleaded  his  anxiety  to  get  to 
the  great  work.  He  remained  with  us  ten  days,  suffer- 
ing at  times  considerably  from  fever  and  pain  in  his 
chest." 

We  find  him,  shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Cawnpore, 
preaching  to  a  thousand  soldiers  drawn  up  in  a  hollow 
square,  when  the  heat  was  so  great,  although  the  sun  had 
not  risen,  that  many  actually  dropped  down,  unable  to 
support  it.  His  health  suffered,  as  it  could  not  fail  of 
doing  from  ministrations  carried  on  under  such  circum- 
stances in  such  a  district,  and  he  complained  of  an 
attack  of  fever  after  he  had  begun  these  services ;  but  he 
was  too  zealous,  and  too  faithful  to  spare  himself.  There 
was  imprudence,  no  doubt,  in  putting  his  valuable  life  to 
such  risks,  but  if  there  was,  we  forget  it  in  the  enthusiasm 
for  his  Master  which  prompted  his  efforts,  and  if  we  can- 
not unreservedly  praise,  we  must  assuredly  admire.  Of 
the  two  extremes,  give  us  the  ardent  zeal  of  self  forgetting 
love,  rather  than  the  placid  indifference  which  consults 
its  own  interests  first,  and  then  turns  leisurely  to  the 
interests  of  God. 

Martyn's  duties  at  Cawnpore  were  similar  to  those  at 
Dinapore.  These  were  prayers  and  a  sermon  with  the 
regiment  in  the  early  morning,  the  same  services  at  the 
house  of  the  General  of  the  station  at  eleven,  attendance 
at  the  hospital,  and  in  the  evening — and  this  part  of  his 
work  he  found  the  most  grateful  and  refreshing — an  ex- 

H 


98  HENRY  MARTYN. 

position  to  the  more  earnest  part  of  his  flock,  combined 
with  prayer  and  praise. 

He  had  ahvays  loved  the  science  of  philology,  and  he 
ever  fondly  hoped  to  make  some  discoveries  which 
should  throw  light  upon  the  difficulties  of  Scripture.  He 
had  devoted  himself  to  this  study  at  Dinapore,  and  he 
still  pursued  it  for  many  successive  days  and  nights  at 
Cawnpore.  He  thought  at  one  time  that  he  had 
ascertained  the  meaning  of  almost  all  the  Hebrew 
letters  ;  but  he  gradually  became  less  fervent  in  these 
inquiries,  either  because  he  began  to  doubt  the  truth  of 
those  axioms  which  he  had  laid  down,  or  from  finding 
their  uselessness  after  he  had  established  them. 

These  abstruse  speculations,  together  with  the  superin- 
tendence of  an  Arabic  translation  of  the  New  Testament, 
begun  and  carried  on  conjointly  with  a  new  Persian 
version,  now  occupied  him  fully.  His  studies,  however, 
were  interrupted  from  time  to  time  by  calls  from  a 
distance  to  perform  the  marriage  service.  He  received 
such  a  summons  from  Lucknow,  and  also  from  Pre- 
tabjush  in  the  territory  of  Oudh.  Of  the  latter  he  writes 
thus  to  Mr.  Simeon  :  "Just  after  the  last  ship  from 
Europe  arrived,  and  I  was  hourly  expecting  my  letters,  I 
was  summoned  to  a  distant  station  to  marry  a  couple, 
and  did  not  return  till  three  weeks  after.  It  was  a 
great  disappointment  to  be  thus  suddenly  sent  to  roam 
amongst  jungles  and  jackals,  when  I  was  feasting  my 
fancy  with  delightful  letters  from  my  friends  at  home, 
though  Europe  is  no  longer  my  home.     However,  my 


CA  WNPORE.  99 

mind  was  soon  reconciled  to  it ;  and  I  was  often  able  to 
recite,  with  some  sense  of  their  sweetness,  Mr.  Newton's 
beautiful  lines, 

*  In  desert  tracts  with  Thee,  my  God, 
How  happy  could  I  be.' 

"  Being  detained  one  Lord's-day  at  the  place,  I 
assembled  all  the  officers  and  company  at  the  command- 
ing officer's  bungalow,  and  preached  the  gospel  to  them. 
There  were  five  and  thirty  officers,  besides  ladies  and 
other  Europeans.  You  will  have  an  idea  of  the  Nabob's 
country,  when  you  are  informed  that  last  September  a 
young  officer,  going  from  his  station  to  Lucknow,  was 
stopped  by  robbers  and  literally  cut  to  pieces  in  his 
palanquin.  Since  that  time  the  Nabob  has  requested 
that  every  English  gentleman  wnshing  to  visit  his  capital 
may  give  notice  of  his  intention  to  the  resident,  in  order 
that  a  guard  may  be  sent.  Accordingly,  a  few  months 
ago,  when  I  had  occasion  to  go  to  Lucknow,  I  had  a 
guard  of  four  troopers,  armed  with  matchlocks  and 
spears.  I  thought  of  Nehemiah,  but  was  far  too  inferior 
to  him  in  courage  and  faith  not  to  contemplate  the 
fierce  countenances  of  my  satellites  with  great  satisfac- 
tion." 

He  had  not  been  long  settled  in  his  new  home  before 
he  received  another  shock  similar  to  that  which  over- 
whelmed him  with  sorrow  in  the  past  year.  Letters 
from  Europe  brought  the  sad  intelligence  that  his 
youngest  sister,  she  who  had  been  his  earliest  counsellor 


loo  HENRY  MARTYN. 

and  guide  in  the  ways  of  peace,  had  been  "  taken  away 
from  the  evil  to  come."  He  writes  in  the  following 
touching  manner  to  the  widowed  husband.  "  Your  loss 
is  greater  than  mine,  and  therefore  it  would  become  me 
to  offer  consolation,  but  I  cannot,  I  must  wait  for  your 
next ;  and  in  the  meantime  I  will  continue  to  pray  for 
you,  that  the  God  of  all  consolation  may  comfort  you, 
and  make  us  both,  from  this  time,  live  more  as  pilgrims 
and  strangers  upon  the  earth.  In  my  first  three  years 
after  leaving  my  native  land,  I  have  lost  the  three  per- 
sons whom  I  most  loved  in  it.  What  is  there  now  I 
should  wish  to  live  for  ?  Oh  what  a  barren  desert,  what 
a  howHng  wilderness  does  this  world  appear  !  But  for 
the  service  of  God  in  His  Church,  and  the  preparation  of 
my  own  soul,  I  do  not  know  that  I  would  wish  to  live 
another  day." 

These  repeated  trials  were  not  without  their  peculiar 
spiritual  consolations  and  blessings.  They  yielded 
many  "  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness."  Any  one 
who  reads  his  journal  at  this  period  must  be  struck 
with  his  growth  in  that  spiritual  mind  which  is  "life 
and  peace."  He  seems  to  make  rapid  advances  not 
only  in  faith  and  in  love,  but  in  "  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  children  of  God."  One  great  defect  in  his  re- 
ligious character  before  this  was  a  certain  lack  of  that 
*'  spirit  of  adoption  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father." 
He  allowed  his  inward  peace  to  depend  in  too  great  a 
measure  on  his  frames  and  feelings  at  the  time ;  so  that, 
although  he  had  often  a  conscious  experience  of  joy,  he 


CA  WNPORE.  loi 

was  at  times  downcast  and  dispirited.  But  it  must  ever 
be  borne  in  mind  by  those  who  seek  to  understand  the 
man,  that  he  was  constitutionally  melancholy,  that  his 
conscience  was  peculiarly  sensitive,  and  that  he  was  of 
a  spirit  that  was  always  ready  to  "  write  bitter  things 
against  itself."  There  were  seasons,  indeed,  when  he 
soared  above  all  the  infirmities  which  belonged  to  his 
natural  temperament,  and  basked  in  the  unclouded  sun- 
shine of  his  Father's  face.  And  there  is  one  point  worthy 
of  observation  as  regards  his  spiritual  exultation  :  his 
spiritual  joy  never  exceeded  the  bounds  of  chastened 
sobriety;  and  when  his  heart  was  most  in  heaven,  his 
soul  was  most  under  a  sense  of  his  un worthiness,  and 
"  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin."  Fervent  love  and 
filial  fear  met  in  most  blessed  and  holy  union  in  his 
soul.  While  he  was  the  child  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  he  was  at  the  same  time  the  creature  in  the  dust 
at  the  footstool  of  God.  Daily  did  he  grow  in  grace, 
and  gather  round  him  the  lineaments  of  heaven.  Each 
trial  that  was  sent  was  sanctified  to  an  increasing  con- 
formity to  the  mind  of  Christ.  He  tells  us  himself  that 
he  saw  love  inscribed  on  these  afflictions.  He  was  a 
learner  in  the  school  of  sorrow.  Sorrow  is  the  great 
teacher.  There  are  some  lessons  that  would  never  be 
acquired  were  they  not  taught  by  tribulation.  As  dark- 
ness not  only  hides  but  reveals,  so  it  is  with  affliction. 
Were  the  sun  never  to  set  below  the  horizon,  how  much 
of  God's  workmanship  in  creation  we  should  lose  !  It 
is  the  darkness  that  discloses  the  silver  moon,  and  all  the 


I02  HENRY  MARTYN. 

Starry  host,  as  coming  out  one  by  one  in  the  purple 
skies  they  make  night  beautiful  with  their  brilliant  fires. 
So  is  it  with  sorrow.  Had  we  nothing  but  the  sunshine 
of  prosperous  times  and  circumstances,  large  portions 
of  '■''  the  lively  oracles  "  would  be  for  us  without  mean- 
ing and  without  force.  For  here  are  rich  promises, 
made  only  for  the  afflicted  ;  "  words  in  season  "  spoken 
only  to  "  the  weary,"  and  consolations  that  can  only  be 
understood  by  the  troubled  and  the  heavy-laden.  So 
that  trial,  v/ith  all  its  darkness  and  gloom,  brings  into 
view  many  an  "  exceeding  great  and  precious  promise," 
which  like  the  planet  or  star,  unless  revealed  by  the 
shadows  of  the  night,  would  for  ever  remain  hidden 
from  our  gaze. 

The  close  of  the  year  1809  was  distinguished  by  the 
beginning  of  Martyn's  first  public  ministrations  among 
the  heathen.  To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  repeated 
interruptions  on  his  valuable  time,  he  had  appointed  all 
who  needed  temporal  assistance  to  meet  him  on  a  stated 
day  for  the  distribution  of  alms.  Sometimes  as  many 
as  from  five  to  eight  hundred  beggars  would  assemble 
before  his  house,  and  he  seized  the  opportunity  of 
feeding  them,  not  only  with  the  bread  which  perisheth, 
but  with  '•  the  bread  which  cometh  down  from  heaven." 
JEie  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  numbers  increase, 
and  of  observing  a  growing  attention  to  the  instructions 
which  he  delivered.  This  congregation,  assembling 
from  week  to  week,  presented  an  affecting  spectacle  of 
extreme  wretchedness,   but  he  was  able   to  tell  them 


CA  WNPORE. 


103 


of  a  God  who  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  and  of  a 
Saviour  "  who  for  our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we 
through  His  poverty  might  be  rich."  He  led  their 
minds  upward  to  a  God  "  not  like  unto  gold,  or  silver, 
or  stone,  graven  by  art  and  man's  device,  and  who  is 
not  worshipped  with  men's  hands,  as  though  He  needed 
anything,  seeing  He  giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath,  and 
all  things."  And  he  entreated  for  a  God  so  great  and 
so  good  their  love,  and  reverence,  and  awe.  "  If  God 
made  the  heaven  and  earth  for  you,  and  made  the  meat 
also  for  you,  will  He  not  also  feed  you  ?  Know  also 
that  He  that  made  heaven  and  earth  ca7i  destroy  them, 
and  will  do  it ;  therefore  fear  God  who  is  so  great,  and 
love  God,  who  is  so  good."  Such  was  the  substance  of 
his  first  discourse  to  this  motley  assemblage,  and  the 
whole  of  it  was  preached  sentence  by  sentence.  At  the 
end  of  each  clause  there  were  sounds  of  applause,  and 
also  several  explanatory  remarks  from  the  wiser  portion 
of  the  audience.  "I  bless  my  God,"  said  Martyn,  "for 
helping  me  beyond  my  expectations." 

On  another  occasion,  when  speaking  of  God's  love  to 
the  Hindoos,  and  of  His  love  to  other  peoples  of  the 
earth,  and  telling  them  that  ''  the  Ganges  was  no  better 
than  other  rivers,  for  all  rivers  are  alike,"  he  says,  "  these 
were  nice  points.  I  felt  as  if  treading  on  tender  ground, 
and  was  almost  disposed  to  blame  myself  for  imprudence. 
I  thought  that  amidst  the  silence  these  remarks  pro- 
duced I  heard  hisses  and  groans,  but  a  few  Mahome- 
tans applauded. 


104  HENRY  MARTYN. 

With  these  labours  of  love  the  year  1809  came  to  a 
close.  "  Ten  years  have  elapsed,"  wrote  Martyn  on  the 
last  day  of  this  year,  "  since  I  was  first  called  of  God  to 
the  fellowship  of  the  gospel  ;  and  ten  times  greater 
ought  to  be  my  gratitude  to  the  tender  mercy  of  my 
God  for  all  that  He  has  done  for  me.  The  ways  of 
wisdom  appear  more  sweet  and  reasonable  than  ever, 
and  the  world  more  insipid  and  vexatious.  The  chief 
thing  I  have  to  mourn  over  is  my  want  of  more  power 
and  fervour  in  secret  prayer,  especially  when  attempting 
to  plead  for  the  heathen.  Warmth  does  not  increase 
with  me  in  proportion  to  my  light ! 

Martyn  continued  to  minister  to  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  wants  of  the  wretched  beings  who  statedly  as- 
sembled at  his  house  during  the  early  part  of  the  year 
18 10,  nor  did  he  cease  from  his  labours  of  love  during 
his  residence  at  Cawnpore,  so  long  as  his  health  per- 
mitted. He  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  a  great 
impression  was  made,  and  that  the  promise  was  fulfilled, 
"  My  word  shall  not  return  unto  Me  void,  but  it  shall 
accomplish  that  which  I  please,  and  it  shall  prosper  in 
the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it." 

In  the  midst  of  these  exertions  an  attack  of  pain  in 
the  chest,  severer  than  any  he  had  yet  experienced, 
forced  upon  his  mind  the  unwelcome  conviction  that 
he  must  rest  from  his  arduous  labours.  His  friends 
became  much  alarmed  about  the  state  of  his  health.  To 
Mr.  Simeon,  who  had  strongly  urged  upon  him  the  duty 
of  care  and  prudence,  he  thus  writes  : — "  I  read  your 


CA IVNPORE.  105 

letter  of  6th  July,  1809,  cautioning  me  against  over- 
exertion, with  the  confidence  of  one  who  had  nothing  to 
fear.  This  was  only  three  weeks  ago.  Since  the  last 
Lord's-day  your  kind  advice  was  brought  home  to  my 
mind,  accompanied  with  painful  regret  that  I  had  not 
paid  more  attention  to  it.  My  work  last  Sunday  was 
not  more  than  usual,  but  far  too  much  for  me,  I  can 
perceive.  First,  service  to  his  Majesty's  53rd  foot  in  the 
open  air;  then  at  head-quarters,  in  the  afternoon,  preached 
to  eight  hundred  natives  ;  at  night,  to  my  little  flock  of 
Europeans.  Wiiich  of  these  can  I  forego  ?  The  minis- 
tration to  the  natives  might  be  in  the  week,  but  I  wish 
to  attach  the  idea  of  holiness  to  the  Sunday.  My  even- 
ing congregation  on  Sunday  is  attended  by  twice  as  many 
as  in  the  week-day,  so  how  can  I  let  this  go  ?  " 

Unwilling  as  he  was  to  "spare  himself,"  the  state  of 
his  health,  threatened  as  he  was  with  the  hereditary 
disease  of  consumption,  compelled  him  to  relax  his 
exertions,  and  to  overcome  his  reluctance  of  giving  up 
any  of  his  work.  He  was  compelled  to  tell  his  Indian  / 
congregation,  when  they  met  for  service,  that  ill  health 
prevented  his  addressing  them  as  before.  No  sooner 
had  he  spoken  than  hundreds  of  voices  were  heard 
invoking  for  him  long  life,  and  health ;  and  when  he 
distributed  his  charity  among  them,  their  gratitude  was 
without  bounds.  He  ventured,  however,  shortly  after 
this  to  finish  with  them  the  history  of  Joseph  which  he 
had  begun,  and  to  resume  also  the  whole  of  his  duty  on 
the  Sunday  with  the  exception  of  the  service.     He  also, 


io6  HENRY  MART  VAT. 

notwithstanding  his  great  caution  on  this  point,  adminis- 
tered the  rite  of  baptism  to  an  old  Hindoo  woman, 
"ivho,  though  she  knew  but  little,  was  (he  said)  low- 
liness itself."  Nothing  shows  more  the  anxiety  felt  by 
his  friends  at  this  time  for  his  health  than  the  following 
letter  from  Mr.  Brown  :  "You  will  know  from  our  ines- 
timable brother  Corrie,  my  solicitude  about  your  health. 
If  it  could  make  you  live  longer,  I  would  give  up  any 
child  I  have,  and  myself  into  the  bargain.  May  it  please 
the  adorable,  unsearchable  Being  with  whom  we  have  to 
do,  to  lengthen  your  span." 

Though  Mr.  Corrie  had  arrived  at  Cawnpore  in  the 
beginning  of  June  on  his  journey  to  his  new  station  at 
Agra,  and  undertook  part  of  Martyn's  duties  whilst  he 
continued  with  his  friend,  yet  such  was  the  state  of 
Martyn's  health  that  it  was  thought  advisable  that  he 
should  try  the  effect  of  a  short  sea  voyage,  or  return  for 
a  brief  period  of  rest  to  England.  After  a  considerable 
mental  struggle,  Martyn  resolved  upon  the  latter  plan  ; 
for  strongly  as  his  heart  was  drawn  towards  his  native 
country,  India  had  attractions  of  a  more  powerful, 
because  of  a  more  exalted  kind.  His  departure  for 
England  was,  however,  deferred  in  order  that  he  miglit 
visit  Arabia  and  Persia,  for  the  purpose  of  making  as 
perfect  as  possible  his  Persian  version  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, which  w^as  considered  too  incorrect  to  be  sent 
through  the  press.  Competent  judges  in  Calcutta 
deemed  it  unfit  for  general  circulation,  as  it  contained 
too  many  Arabic  idioms,  and  was  written  in  a  style  well 


CA  IVNPORE. 


107 


suited  to  the  learned,  but  not  sufficiently  adapted  to  the 
capacities  of  the  common  people. 

"  At  this  decision,"  we  are  told,  "  Mr.  Martyn  was  as 
keenly  disappointed  as  he  was  delighted  at  the  complete 
success  of  the  Hindustani  version,  which,  on  the  minu- 
test and  most  rigorous  revision,  was  pronounced  to  be 
idiomatic  and  plain.  But  meeting  the  disappointment 
with  that  spring  and  elasticity  of  mind  which  is  the 
result  of  lively  faith,  he  instantly  resolved,  after  com- 
mitting his  way  to  God  in  prayer,  and  consulting  his 
friends,  Mr.  Corrie  and  Mr.  Brown,  on  the  subject,  to  go 
into  Arabia  and  Persia  for  the  pupose  of  collecting  the 
opinions  of  learned  natives  with  respect  to  the  Persian 
translation  which  had  been  rejected,  as  well  as  the 
Arabic  version  which  was-yet  incomplete,  though  nearly 
finished. 

When  his  resolution  was  made  known  to  his  friends, 
Mr.  Brown  wrote  him  a  characteristic  letter  in  Avhich  he 
says : — "  But  can  I  thus  bring  myself  to  cut  the  string 
and  let  you  go?  I  confess  I  could  not  if  your  bodily 
frame  was  strong,  and  promised  to  last  for  half  a  century. 
But  as  you  burn  with  the  intenseness  and  rapid  blaze  of 
heated  phosphorusi,  why  should  we  not  make  the  most  of 
you  ?  Your  flame  may  last  as  long,  and  perhaps  longer, 
in  Arabia,  than  in  India.  Where  should  the  phoenix 
build  her  odoriferous  nest  but  in  the  land  prophetically 
called  "  the  blessed  "  ?  and  where  shall  we  ever  expect, 
tut  from  that  country,  the  true  Comforter  to  come  to  the 
nations  of  the  East  ?     I  contemplate  your  New  Testa- 


io8  HENRY  MARTYN. 

ment  springing  up,  as  it  were,  from  dust  and  ashes,  but 
beautiful  as  the  wings  of  a  dove  covered  with  silver,  and 
her  feathers  like  yellow  gold." 

Towards  the  end  of  September,  Martyn  prepared  to 
leave  Cawnpore,  and  his  last  sermon  there  was  on  the 
life,  the  miracles,  the  death,  and  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,  on  whom  he  exhorted  them  to  beUeve,  taking 
them  to  record  that  he  declared  to  them  the  gospel  of 
the  grace  of  God.  Those  present  on  this  solemn  and 
touching  occasion  felt  that  they  could  never  again  hear 
the  tidings  of  great  joy  from  his  lips,  and  that  when  he 
had  parted  from  them  they  should  see  his  face  no  more. 
"  They  beheld  him,"  says  his  biographer,  "  standing 
on  the  verge  of  the  eternal  world,  and  ready  to  take  a 
splendid  flight.  'My  father,  my  father,  the  chariots  of 
Israel,  and  the  horsemen  thereof ;'  were  the  sentiments 
with  which  many  gazed  on  him." 

Mrs.  Sherwood,  who  was  one  of  his  audience  on  this 
solemn  occasion,  describes  in  the  following  words  the 
impression  he  left  upon  her  and  many  others  :  "  He 
began  in  a  weak  and  faint  voice,  being  at  the  time  in 
a  very  bad  state  of  health;  but  gathering  strength  as 
he  proceeded,  he  seemed  as  one  inspired  from  on  high. 
Never  was  an  audience  more  affected.  The  next  day 
this  holy  and  heavenly  man  left  Cawnpore,  and  the 
society  of  many  who  sincerely  loved  and  admired  him. 
He  left  us  with  litde  hope  of  seeing  him  again  until, 
by  the  mercy  of  the  Saviour,  we  meet  with  him  in  our 
Father's  home." 


CA  WNPORE.  109 

On  the  first  day  of  October,  the  day  which  followed 
this  affecting  service,  he  quitted  Cawnpore  for  Aldeen, 
which  he  had  left  four  years  before,  and  passing  down 
the  Ganges,  reached  it  on  the  evening  of  the  last  day 
of  the  month. 

When  his  friends  saw  his  pallid  countenance  and 
enfeebled  frame,  they  knew  not  whether  to  mourn  over 
his  changed  and  wasted  appearance,  or  to  rejoice  that 
they  could  enjoy  his  society  once  more.  Mr.  Thomason 
thus  expressed  his  feelings  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Simeon: 
"This  bright  and  lovely  jewel  first  gratified  our  eyes 
on  Saturday  last.  He  is  on  his  way  to  Arabia,  where 
he  is  going  in  pursuit  of  health  and  knowledge.  You 
know  his  genius,  and  what  gigantic  strides  he  takes 
in  everything.  He  has  some  great  plan  in  his  mind*  of 
which  I  am  no  competent  judge,  but  so  far  as  I  do 
understand  it,  the  object  is  far  too  grand  for  one  short 
life,  and  much  beyond  his  feeble,  exhausted  frame. 
Feeble  it  is  indeed !  how  feeble  and  changed !  His 
complaint  lies  in  his  lungs,  and  appears  to  be  a  begin- 
ning consumption.  But  let  us  hope  the  sea  air  may 
revive  him,  and  that  change  of  place  and  pursuit  may 
do  him  essential  service,  and  continue  his  life  many 
years.  In  all  other  respects  he  is  greatly  the  same 
as  he  was ;  he  shines  in  all  the  dignity  of  love,  and 
seems  to  carry  about  him  such  a  heavenly  majesty  as 
impresses  the  mind  beyond  description.  But  if  he  talks 
much,  though  in  a  low  voice,  he  sinks,  and  you  are 
reminded  of  his  being  dust  and  ashes.'     Notwithstand- 


no  HENRY  MARTYN, 

ing  the  inferior  state  of  his  health,  and  those  symptoms 
of  consumption  which  alarmed  his  friends  at  Cawnpore, 
JVIartyn  preached  every  Sunday  during  his  stay  at 
Calcutta,  with  one  exception.  He  felt  that  the  time 
was  short,  and  that  he  must  redeem  it, — that  the  days 
were  evil,  and  he  must  do  all  in  his  power  to  amend 
them.  Thus  was  he,  what  Brainerd  wished  himself  to 
be,  "  a  flame  of  fire  in  the  service  of  his  God,"  a  flame 
burning  brightly,  but  burning  out  by  its  own  very  in- 
tensity, being  always  at  a  white  heat,  until  it  burnt 
itself  away. 

Martyn's  own  words  on  leaving  for  ever  those  shores 
on  which  he  had  fondly  and  fully  prepared  to  spend 
all  his  days,  were  these :  "  I  now  pass  from  India  to 
Arabia,  not  knowing  the  things  that  shall  befall  me 
there,  but  assured  that  an  ever  faithful  God  and  Saviour 
will  be  with  me  whithersoever  I  go.  May  He  guide 
me  and  protect  me;  and  after  preparing  me  in  the 
thing  whereunto  I  go,  bring  me  back  again  to  my 
delightful  work  in  India.  I  am  perhaps  leaving  it  to 
see  it  no  more,  but  the  will  of  God  be  done.  My 
times  are  in  His  hand,  and  He  will  cut  them  short 
as  shall  be  most  for  my  good ;  with  this  assurance 
I  feel  that  nothing  need  interrupt  my  work  or  my 
peace." 

Ill  as  he  was,  he  preached  a  sermon  on  the  anni- 
versary of  the  Calcutta  Bible  Society  which  was  after- 
wards printed,  with  the  title  "  Christian  India  ;  or,  an 
appeal  on  behalf  of  nine  hundred  thousand  Christians 


CAWNPORE.  in 

in  India  who  want  the  Bible."  He  also  for  the  last 
time  addressed  the  inhabitants  of  Calcutta,  from  the 
text :  *'  But  one  thing  is  needful." 

On  the  7th  of  January  he  left  India  for  Shiraz  in 
Persia,  takmg  his  passage  in  the  ship  Ahmoody,  bound 
to  Bombay.  An  extract  from  a  letter  to  Mr.  Corrie 
soon  after  his  departure  has  its  own  interest.  "  One  of 
my  fellow-passengers  was  the  Honourable  Mr.  Elphin- 
stone,  who  was  proceeding  to  take  the  presidency  of 
Poonah.  His  agreeable  manners  and  classical  acquire- 
ments made  me  think  myself  fortunate  indeed  in 
having  such  a  companion ;  and  I  found  his  company 
the  most  agreeable  part  of  my  voyage." 

"  Our  captain  was  a  pupil  of  Schwartz's,  of  whom  he 
communicated  many  interesting  particulars.  Schwartz, 
with  Kolhoff  and  Joenicke,  kept  a  school  for  half  caste 
children,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Tanjore,  but 
went  every  night  to  the  Tanjore  Church  to  meet  about 
sixty  or  seventy  of  the  king's  regiment  who  assembled 
for  devotional  purposes ;  afterwards  he  officiated  to 
their  wives  and  children  in  Portuguese.  At  the  school 
Schwartz  used  to  read  in  the  morning  out  of  the  German 
Meditation  for  every  day  in  the  year ;  at  night  he  had 
family  prayer.  Joenicke  taught  them  geography ;  Kol- 
•  hoff,  writing  and  arithmetic.  They  had  also  masters  in 
Persian  and  Malabar. 

"  At  the  time  when  the  present  Rajah  was  in  danger 
of  his  life  from  the  usurper  of  his  uncle's  throne, 
Schwartz   used   to   sleep   in   the  same  room  with   him. 


112  HENRY  MARTY N, 

This  was  sufficient  protection,  'for  (said  the  captain) 
Schwartz  was  considered  by  the  natives  as  something 
more  than  mortal'  The  old  Rajah  at  his  death  com- 
mitted his  nephew  to  Schwartz. 

"  All  down  the  Bay  of  Bengal  I  could  do  nothing 
but  sit  listless  on  the  poop,  viewing  the  wide  waste  of 
waters,  a  sight  that  would  have  been  beautiful  had  I 
been  well.  On  the  i8th,  we  came  in  sight  of  the  island 
of  Ceylon.'' 

During  the  voyage  the  vessel  touched  at  several  places, 
and  Martyn  landed  at  Colombo,  and  describes  a  walk 
in  a  cinnamon  garden  and  along  a  beautiful  road  where 
a  tall  grove  of  cocoa-nut  trees  rose  on  each  side  of  the 
way,  interspersed  with  the  huts  of  the  natives,  and 
throug^i  which  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  sea  beyond. 
He  landed  also  at  Goa,  where  he  visited  the  tomb  of 
Francis  Xavier.  He  also  went  in  company  with  Mr* 
Elphinstone  to  the  Inquisition,  but  they  were  not  ad- 
mitted beyond  the  ante-chamber. 

On  the  1 8th  of  February  the  vessel  anchored  at  Bom- 
bay. It  was  his  thirtieth  birthday,  "an  age,"  he  says 
in  his  journal,  "at  which  David  Brainerd  finished  his 
course."  He  adds  characteristically  :  "  I  am  now  at  the 
age  when  the  Saviour  of  men  began  His  ministry  ;  when 
John  the  Baptist  called  a  nation  to  repentance.  Let  me 
now  think  for  myself  and  act  with  energy.  Hitherto  I 
have  made  my  youth  and  insignificance  an  excuse  for 
sloth  and  imbecility,  now  let  me  have  a  character  and 
act  for  God." 


CAWNPORE.  "3 

This  resolution,  it  need  hardly  be  said,  he  carried  out, 
and  whenever  he  had  an  opportunity  he  furthered  as  far 
as  possible  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  urged  the  Saviour's 
claims  on  the  heart  and  conscience.  Whether  he  spoke 
to  Christian,  Mahometan,  or  Parsee,  he  sought  trophies 
for  his  Master's  cross,  and  jewels  for  His  crown. 

On  the  14th  of  April,  Easter  Day,  they  came  in  sight 
of  the  Persian  coast,  near  Tiz,  in  Meehran,  and  on  the 
2ist  anchored  at  Muscat,  in  Arabia.  On  the  22nd  of 
INlay  they  landed  at  Bushire,  and  Martyn,  speaking  of 
himself  in  his  journal,  says,  "in  good  health."  "  How 
unceasing,"  he  continues,  "  are  the  mercies  of  the  Lord  ; 
blessed  be  His  goodness  ;  may  He  still  preserve  me 
from  danger,  and  above  all  make  my  journey  a  source 
of  future  good  to  this  kingdom  of  Persia,  into  which  I 
am  now  come.  AVe  were  hospitably  received  by  the 
acting  Resident.  In  the  evening  I  walked  out  by  the 
sea-side  to  recollect  myself,  to  review  the  past,  and  look 
forward  to  the  future." 

On  Sunday  the  Europeans  assembled  for  Divme 
service,  which  was  performed  at  the  President's.  He 
preached  from  the  words,  "  For  He  must  reign  till  He 
liath  put  all  enemies  under  His  feet."  In  the  evening 
he  went,  at  the  Padre's  request,  to  the  Armenian  Church, 
where  he  found  the  same  unmeaning  ceremonies  and 
noisy  chants,  the  same  burning  of  incense  and  censing  as 
he  had  found  at  Bombay.  The  next  day  he  felt  very  ill 
from  headache  and  overpowering  sleepiness,  arising,  as 
he  thought,  from  sunstroke,  and  as  often  as  he  attempted 

I 


114  HENRY  MARTYN. 

to  read  he  fell  asleep  and  awoke  in  bitterness  and  pain. 
So  the  benefit  that  his  health  had  gained  from  the  voyage 
and  the  enforced  rest  soon  passed  away,  and  he  suffered 
again  from  his  old  attacks  of  debility  ;  but  through  all, 
his  great  desire  was  to  say  :  "  Not  my  will,  but  Thine  be 
done."  The  attack  of  sunstroke,  however,  passed  off, 
and  again  restored,  he  was  able  to  do  something  in  the 
way  of  reading.  The  account  that  he  received  from  the 
Resident  of  the  moral  state  of  Persia  made  him  shudder. 
He  asks  in  his  journal :  "  If  God  rained  down  fire  upon 
Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  how  is  it  that  this  nation  is  not 
blotted  out  from  under  heaven?  I  do  not  remember 
to  have  heard  such  things  of  the  Hindoos  except  the 
Sikhs,  they  seem  to  rival  the  Mahometans."' 

May  30///.  ''  Our  Persian  dresses  being  ready,  we 
set  off  this  evening  for  Shiraz.  Our  kafila  consisted  of 
about  thirty  horses  and  mules,  some  carrying  things  to 
the  ambassador,  the  rest  for  our  servants  and  luggage ; 
the  animal  for  my  use  was  a  Yaboo,  or  riding  pony,  a 
mule  for  my  trunks,  and  one  for  my  servant  Zachariah, 
an  Armenian  of  Ispahan.  It  was  a  fine  moonlight  night, 
about  10  o'clock,  when  we  marched  out  of  the  gate  of 
Bushire  and  began  to  make  our  way  over  the  plain.     Mr. 

B ,  who  accompanied  me  a  little  way,  soon  returned. 

Captain  T .went  on,  intending  to  accompany  us  to 

Shiraz.  This  was  the  first  time  we  had  any  of  us  put  off 
the  European,  and  the  novelty  of  our  situation  supplied 
us  with  many  subjects  for  conversation  about  two  hours  ; 
when  we  began  to  flag  and  grow  sleepy,  and  the  kafila 


CA  IVNPORE. 


15 


was  pretty  quiet ;  one  of  the  muleteers  on  foot  began  to 
sing.  He  sang  with  a  voice  so  plaintive  that  it  was  im- 
possible not  to  have  one's  attention  arrested.  At  the 
end  of  the  first  tune  he  paused,  and  nothing  was  heard 
but  the  tinkling  of  the  bells  attached  to  the  necks  of  the 
mules.  Every  voice  was  hushed.  The  first  line  was 
enough  for  me,  and  I  dare  say  it  set  many  others  think- 
ing of  their  absent  friends — '  Without  thee  my  heart 
can  attach  itself  to  none."  It  is  what  I  have  often  felt 
on  setting  out  on  a  journey.  The  friends  left  behind  so 
absorb  the  thoughts  that  the  things  by  the  wayside  are 
seen  without  interest,  and  the  conversation  of  strangers 
is  insipid.  But  perhaps  the  first  line,  as  well  as  the  rest, 
is  only  a  promise  of  fidelity,  though  I  did  not  take  it  in 
that  sense  when  I  first  heard  it.  The  following  is  per- 
haps the  true  translation  : — 

*  Think  not  that  e'er  my  heart  can  dwell 

Contented  far  from  thee  : 
How  can  the  fresh-caught  nightingale 

Enjoy  tranquillity  ? 
Forsake  not  then  thy  friend  for  aught 

That  slanderous  tongues  can  say  ; 
The  heart  that  fixes  where  it  ought, 

No  power  can  rend  away. ' 

Thus  we  went  on;  and  as  often  as  the  kafilas,  by 
their  dulness  and  sleepiness,  seemed  to  require  it,  or 
perhaps  to  keep  himself  awake,  he  entertained  the 
company  and  himself  with  a  song.  We  met  two  or 
three  other  kafilas  taking  advantage  of  the  night  to  get 


ii6  HENRY  MARTYN. 

on.  My  loquacious  servant,  Zachary,  took  care  to  ask 
every  one  whence  they  came,  and  by  that  means  some- 
times got  an  answer  which  raised  a  laugh  against  him." 

So  far  his  journey  was  agreeable,  but  as  he  proceeded 
on  his  way  he  suffered  much  under  the  heat  and  burden 
of  the  day.  At  first  the  heat  was  not  greater  than  he 
had  felt  in  India,  bat  it  soon  became  so  great  as  to  be 
quite  alarming.  When  the  thermometer  was  above 
120°,  at  fever  heat,  he  began  to  lose  strength,  and  at  last 
it  became  so  intolerable  that  he  could  not  rest,  and 
thought  that  he  must  lose  his  senses.  During  the  whole 
journey  he  suffered  much,  and  on  some  occasions  the 
thermometer  rose  to  126°,  and  the  only  way  in  which 
he  could  defend  himself  from  the  fierceness  of  the  sun 
and  preserve  the  moisture  upon  the  skin  was  by  wrap- 
ping himself  up  in  blankets  and  other  coverings  thick 
enough  to  exclude  the  air.  At  other  times  he  had 
recourse  to  large  wet  towels,  which  he  wound  round 
his  head  and  body;  and  to  this  preventive  he  owed, 
under  God,  the  preservation  of  his  life.  This  was  in 
the  plains.  When  he  began  to  ascend  the  mountain 
ranges,  where  the  road  often  passed  so  close  to  the 
edge  of  fearful  precipices  that  one  false  step  must  have 
plunged  him  in  destruction,  the  cold  of  the  nights  was 
so  piercing  that  all  the  clothes  he  could  collect  tog  ther 
could  not  keep  him  from  shivering.  We  cannot  wonder, 
therefore,  that  he  could  thus  record  his  impressions 
when  he  arrived  at  Carzeroon  :  "  I  could  not  compose 
myself  tc  sleep.     There  seemed  to  be  a  fire  within  my 


C AWN  PORE.  117 

head,  my  skin  like  a  cinder,  and  the  pulse  violent. 
Through  the  day  it  was  again  too  hot  to  sleep,  though 
the  place  we  occupied  was  a  sort  of  summer-house  in 
a  garden  of  cypress-trees,  exceedingly  well  fitted  up 
with  mats  and  coloured  glass.  Had  the  kafila  gone 
on  that  night  I  could  not  have  accompanied  it;  but 
it  halted  here  a  day,  by  which  means  I  got  a  sort  of 
night's  rest,  even  though  I  awoke  twenty  times  to  dip 
my  burning  hands  in  water.  Though  Carzeroon  is  the 
second  greatest  town  in  Fars,  we  could  get  nothing 
but  bread,  milk,  and  eggs,  and  that  with  difficulty.  The 
Governor,  who  is  under  great  obligations  to  the  English, 
heard  of  our  arrival,  but  sent  us  no  message." 

At  length,  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  June,  he 
found  himself  in  the  plain  of  Shiraz,  after  a  terrible 
journey  full  of  difficulty  and  peril,  when  at  times  he 
was  unable  even  to  guide  his  horse,  and  sustained  only 
by  his  trust  in  God,  and  by  the  thought  of  that  better 
world  where  all  tears  shall  be  wiped  from  the  eyes.  An 
extract  from  his  journal,  written  down  just  two  days 
before  he  reached  Shiraz,  shows  us  where  his  hopes  were 
fixed,  and  what  was  the  secret  of  his  endurance. 

"  Left  the  caravansera  at  one  this  morning.  Con- 
tinned  to  ascend.  The  hours  we  were  permitted  to 
rest  the  musquitoes  had  effectually  prevented  me  from 
using,  so  I  never  felt  more  miserable  and  disordered. 
The  cold  was  very  severe.  For  fear  of  falling  off  from 
sleep  and  numbness,  I  walked  a  good  part  of  the  way. 
We  pitched  our  tent  in  the  vale  of  Dustarjan,  near  a 


Ii8  HENRY  MARTYN. 

crystal  stream,  on  the  banks  of  which  we  observed  the 
clover  and  golden  cup.  The  whole  valley  was  one  green 
field,  on  which  large  herds  of  cattle  were  browsing.  The 
temperature  was  about  that  of  the  spring  in  England. 
There  a  few  hours'  sleep  recovered  me,  in  some  degree, 
from  the  stupidity  in  which  I  had  been  for  some  days. 
I  awoke  with  a  light  heart  and  said,  "  He  knoweth  our 
frame,  and  remembereth  we  are  dust.  He  redeemeth 
our  life  from  destruction,  and  crowneth  us  with  loving- 
kindness  and  tender  mercies.  He  maketh  us  to  lie 
down  in  the  green  pastures,  and  leadeth  us  beside  the 
still  waters.  And  when  we  have  left  this  vale  of  tears, 
there  is  no  more  sorrow,  nor  sighing,  nor  any  more 
pain.  The  sun  shall  not  light  upon  them,  nor  any 
heat.  But  the  Lamb  shall  lead  them  to  Uving  foun- 
tains." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SHIRAZ. 
[1811-12.] 

SHIRAZ  is  the  most  celebrated  seat  of  Persian 
learning.  It  has  been  called  "the  Athens  of  Persia," 
because  it  has  been  the  birthplace  of  many  poets  and 
historians  who  hold  a  distinguished  place  in  the  literature 
of  Asia.  Persia  recalls  to  the  mind  those  celebrated 
Eastern  Tales  in  which  the  loves  of  the  Nightingale 
and  the  Rose  form  so  conspicuous  an  episode,  and  in 
which  are  related  many  a  daring  adventure  of  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  the  country, — the  worshippers  of  the  sun 
and  the  fire.  The  Arabs  at  length  conquered  the 
foUov/ers  of  Zoroaster,  and  forcing  them  to  become 
wanderers  from  the  land  of  their  birth,  introduced  the 
religion  of  Mahomet  into  the  country.  But  the  poetical 
associations  connected  with  the  region  where  he  had 
now  his  home,  only  brought  out  into  greater  prominence 
the  terrible  evils  under  which  both  the  country  and  the 
inhabitants  suffered.  He  writes  thus  from  Persia  to  a 
friend  in  England  :  "As  for  their  wickedness  and  misery, 
it  is  only  human  nature  unveiled,  its  depravity  heightened 
perhaps  by  the  superstition  under  which  they  groaned." 


120  HENRY  MARTYN. 

Martyn  at  once  set  himself  to  work,  and,  as  ever, 
redeemed  the  time.  Having  ascertained  the  general 
correctness  of  the  opinion  given  in  Calcutta  of  Sabat's 
translation  of  the  New  Testament,  he  immediately  began 
another  version  in  the  Persian  language.  He  found  an 
able  and  willing  assistant  in  this  difficult  and  important 
work,  in  Mirza  Said  Ali  Khan,  the  brother-in-law  of  his 
host  Jaffiar  Ali  Khan.  Mirza's  own  religious  sentiments 
were  of  the  most  latitudinarian  character,  and  as  this 
same  spirit  pervades  the  whole  system  of  Soofeism,  it 
sufficiently  accounts  for  its  literature  under  a  Mahometan 
intolerance  of  a  stricter  and  more  absolute  kind  than 
that  which  exists  in  the  Turkish  Empire. 

Jaffier  Ali  Khan,  a  Mahometan  of  rank  and  influence, 
was  a  man  of  great  urbanity  of  temper  and  kindness  of 
disposition,  and  Martyn  found  in  him  a  host  anxious 
in  every  way  to  contribute  to  his  comfort  and  conveni- 
ence. He  as  well  as  his  brother  were  remarkable  for 
their  freedom  from  bigotry  and  prejudice  ;  and  he  was 
ready  on  all  occasions  to  invite  rather  than  decline  the 
freest  interchange  of  opinion  on  religious  topics. 

Martyn,  on  the  17th  of  June,  when  he  had  been  a 
little  more  than  a  week  in  Shiraz,  began  the  work  for 
which  he  had  come  to  Persia.  As  he  soon  became 
an  object  of  much  interest  and  curiosity,  he  was  not 
allowed  to  proceed  on  the  version  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment without  many  interruptions.  "  Said  Ali,"  he  writes, 
"began  translating  the  Gospel  of  John  with  me.  We 
were  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  two  very  majestic 


SHIRAZ.  121 

personages,  one  of  whom  was  the  great-grandson  of 
Nadir  Shah.  The  uncle  of  the  present  king  used  to 
wait  behind  his  father's  table.  He  is  now  a  prisoner 
here,  subsisting  on  a  pension."  He  had  a  visit  also 
from  the  prince's  secretary,  who  was  considered  the 
best  prose  writer  in  Shiraz.  Then  came  two  young 
men  from  the  college,  full  of  zeal  and  logic,  to  try  him 
with  hard  questions,  all  of  which  were  foolish,  and 
ministered  rather  to  strife  than  to  edification.  On 
another  occasion  a  party  of  Armenians  appeared  ;  and 
again,  upon  another,  a  Mahometan  who  had  been  a 
Jew  came  to  prove  that  he  had  found  Mahomet  in 
the  Pentateuch.  He  met  with  several  Jews  who  had 
become  apostates  from  their  faith  through  bribery ;  and 
the  prince  gave  to  every  Jew  on  conversion  an  honorary 
dress,  "  and  so,"  Martyn  remarks,  "  they  are  turning 
Mahometans  every  day."  ''A  young  man,  son  of  the 
old  Jew,  asked  how  it  could  be  supposed  that  God 
would  leave  so  many  nations  so  long  in  darkness  if 
Islam  be  an  error?  The  father  sat  with  great  com- 
placency to  see  how  I  could  get  over  this.  I  asked 
why  God  for  four  thousand  years  made  Himself  known 
to  this  nation  only,  and  left  all  the  rest  in  darkness  ?  " 

Martyn  had,  through  his  conversation  with  all  who 
sought  for  discussion,  *'  a  great  and  effectual  door 
opened  "  to  him  for  declaring  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus ; 
and  unwilling  that  any  should  lose  an  opportunity  of 
hearing  of  Christ,  he  received  any  who  were  anxious  to 
come.     Strict  as  he  was  in  the  observance  of  Sunday, 


122        ^  HENRY  MARTYN. 

he  admitted  them  even  on  that  day  to  speak  with  him, 
for  he  had  learnt  the  import  of  the  words,  "  I  will  have 
mercy,  and  not  sacrifice." 

In  the  middle  of  July  he  removed  to  a  garden  in 
the  suburb  of  the  city,  where  his  kind  host  had  pitched 
a  tent  for  him,  to  relieve  the  tedium  of  confinement 
within  the  walls  of  Shiraz  ;  and  here  he  was  able  to 
pursue  his  work  without  interruption.  "  Living  amidst 
clusters  of  grapes,  by  the  side  of  a  clear  stream,  and 
frequently  sitting  under  the  shade  of  an  orange  tree, 
which  Jaffier  Ali  Khan  delighted  to  point  out  to 
visitors,  until  the  day  of  his  own  departure,  he  passed 
many  a  tranquil  hour,  and  enjoyed  many  a  Sabbath 
of  holy  rest  and  Divine  refeshment." 

However,  he  was  soon  in  the  heat  and  dust  of  the 
conflict  again;  for  after  a  Sunday  quiet,  happy,  and 
peaceful,  we  hear  of  his  engaging  in  his  first  public 
controversy  with  the  Mahometans.  After  some  demurs, 
the  Moojtuhid,  or  Professor  of  Mahometan  Law,  con- 
sented to  a  discussion  upon  religious  topics.  He  was 
a  man  of  great  consequence  in  Shiraz,  and  was  appealed 
to  on  all  matters  connected  with  his  profession ;  so  that 
in  all  that  respected  rank,  prejudice,  popularity,  and 
reputation  for  learning,  the  advantage  was  on  his  side. 
Ivlartyn,  however,  did  not  shrink  from  what,  in  some 
ways,  was  an  unequal  contest,  for  he  knew  whom  he 
believed.  Nor  was  his  trust  misplaced  ;  and  with  such 
wisdom  and  skill  did  he  conduct  the  controversy,  that 
a  general  spirit  of  inquiry  was  stirred  up  in  the  city  of 


SHIRAZ.  123 

Shiraz.  So  great  was  the  interest  excited  that  the 
Preceptor  of  all  the  Moollahs,  fearing  whereunto  this 
would  grow,  published  a  defence  of  Mahometanism, 
which  gained  the  credit  of  surpassing  all  former  treatises 
upon  Islam.  The  work  is  said  to  have  been  written 
with  much  temper  and  moderation,  and  with  as  much 
candour  as  is  consistent  with  that  degree  of  subtilty 
which  is  indispensable  in  an  apology  for  so  glaring  an 
imposture  as  Mahometanism. 

Martyn  set  himself  at  once  to  refute  this  treatise  ;  and 
his  reply  was  divided  into  two  parts  :  the  first  being 
devoted  principally  to  an  attack  upon  Mahometanism, 
the  second  being  intended  to  display  the  evidences  and 
establish  the  authority  of  the  Christian  faith.  It  was 
written  in  Persian  ;  and  from  a  translation  of  the  first 
part,  which  has  been  found,  it  appears  that  Martyn 
used  great  plainness  of  speech,  whilst  at  the  same 
time  he  treated  his  opponent  with  meekness  and 
courtesy. 

We  learn  from  Martyn's  journal  at  this  time  that 
although  there  were  individuals  who  professed  Maho- 
metanism without  being  animated  by  the  spirit  of  cruelty 
and  extermination  which  is  a  very  part  of  it,  he  was 
nevertheless  exposed  to  personal  danger,  and  subjected 
to  contempt  and  insult.  "It  is  this  doctrine"  (the 
Divinity  of  Christ),  he  says,  "  that  exposes  me  to  the 
contempt  of  the  learned  Mahometans,  in  whom  it  is 
difficult  to  say  whether  pride  or  ignorance  predominates. 
Their  sneers  are  more  difficult  to  bear  than  the  brick- 


124  HENRY  MARTYN. 

bats  which  the  boys  sometimes  throw  at  me ;  however, 

both  are  an  honour  of  which  I  am  not  worthy.     How 

many  times  in  the  day  have  I  occasion  to  repeat  the 

words, — 

*  If  on  my  face,  for  Thy  dear  name, 

Shame  and  reproaches  be, 
All  hail  reproach,  and  welcome  shame, 
If  Thou  remember  me.' 

The  more  they  wish  me  to  give  up  one  point,  the 
Divinity  of  Christ,  the  more  I  seem  to  feel  the  necessity 
of  It,  and  rejoice  to  glory  in  it.  Indeed,  I  trust  I  would 
sooner  give  up  my  life  than  surrender  it." 

Martyn's  mathematical  studies  were  invaluable  to  him 
now,  inasmuch  as  they  not  only  had  given  him  a  habit 
of  patient  and  persevering  inquiry,  but  there  were  many 
occasions  in  which  this  and  other  sciences  were  of  the 
greatest  service  to  the  cause  which  he  had  at  heart. 
His  knowledge  and  attainments  procured  for  him  that 
attention  and  respect  which  learning  ever  secures  in 
countries  where  the  light  of  civiHzation  shines  though 
but  faintly  and  imperfectly. 

Martyn  now  entertained  the  hope  that  his  opponent, 
Mirza  Ibraheem,  was  really  seeking  to  discover  the  truth. 
'*  Mirza,  I  believe,  begins  to  inquire  about  the  gospel. 
The  objections  he  made  were  such  as  these :  '  How  sins 
could  be  atoned  for  before  they  were  committed  ? 
Whether,  as  Jesus  died  for  all  men,  all  would  be 
necessarily  saved  ?  If  faith  be  the  condition  of  salva- 
tion, would  wicked  Christians  be  saved,  provided  they 


SHIRAZ. 


I2S 


believed  ? '  I  was  pleased  to  see,  from  the  nature  of 
the  objections,  that  he  was  considering  the  subject.  To 
his  last  objection  I  remarked,  that  to  those  who  felt 
themselves  sinners  and  came  to  God  for  mercy  through 
Christ,  God  would  give  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  would 
progressively  sanctify  them  in  heart  and  life." 

Martyn's  mind  was  ever  open  to  those  objects  of 
interest  which  arrest  the  attention  of  men  of  culture  and 
form  one  great  source  of  intellectual  enjoyment.  Al- 
though his  thoughts  were  chiefly  occupied  in  "  holding 
forth  the  word  of  life  "  to  the  ignorant  and  degraded,  yet 
he  could  also  find  a  mournful  pleasure  in  musing  over 
the  fallen  grandeur  of  Persepolis.  He  has  left  the  follow- 
ing observations  on  his  visit  to  those  interesting  remains 
of  antiquity : — 

"After  traversing  these  celebrated  ruins,  I  must  say 
that  I  felt  a  little  disappointed  ;  they  did  not  at  all  answer 
my  expectations.  The  architecture  of  the  ancient 
Persians  seems  to  be  much  more  akin  to  that  of  their 
more  clumsy  neighbours,  the  Indians,  than  to  that  of 
the  Greeks.  I  saw  no  appearance  of  grand  design  any- 
where." "But  it  was  impossible  not  to  recollect  that  here 
Alexander  and  his  Greeks  passed  and  repassed,  here 
they  sat,  and  sung,  and  revelled.  Now  all  is  silence ; 
generation  on  generation  lie  mingled  with  the  dust  of 
their  mouldering  edifices. 

*  Alike  the  busy  and  the  gay 
But  flutter  in  life's  busy  day, 
In  fortune's  varying  colours  dress 'd.' 


126  HENRY  MARTYN. 

*'  From  the  ruins  I  rode  off  to  a  neighbouring  village, 
the  head  man  of  which,  at  the  minister's  order,  paid  me 
every  attention.  At  sunset  we  set  out  on  our  return  and 
lost  our  way.  As  I  particularly  remarked,  where  we 
entered  the  plains,  I  pointed  out  the  track  which  after- 
wards proved  to  be  right ;  but  my  opinion  was  overruled, 
and  we  galloped  farther  and  farther  away.  Meeting  at 
last  with  some  villagers,  who  were  passing  the  night  at 
their  threshing-floor  in  the  field,  we  were  set  right. 
They  then  conceived  so  high  an  idea  of  my  geographical 
skill,  that  as  soon  as  we  recrossed  the  Araxes  they 
begged  me  to  point  out  the  Keblah  to  them,  as  they 
wanted  to  pray.  After  setting  their  faces  towards  Mecca 
as  nearly  as  I  could,  I  went  and  sat  down  on  the  margin, 
near  the  bridge,  where  the  waters,  falling  over  some 
fragments  of  a  bridge  under  the  arches,  produced  a  roar 
which,  contrasted  with  the  stillness  all  around,  had  a 
grand  effect.  Then  I  thought  again  of  the  multitudes 
who  had  once  pursued  their  labours  and  pleasures  on  its 
banks.  Twenty-one  centuries  have  passed  away  since 
they  lived.  How  short,  in  comparison,  must  be  the  re- 
mainder of  my  days  !  What  a  momentary  duration  is  the 
life  of  man  !  *  Labitur  et  lahetur  in  omjie  voliibilis  avicm^ 
may  be  affirmed  of  the  river,  but  men  pass  away  as  soon 
as  they  begin  to  exist.     Well,  let  the  moments  pass — 

*  They'll  waft  us  sooner  o'er 
This  life's  tempestuous  sea, 
And  land  us  on  the  peaceful  shore 
Of  bless'd  eternity.' " 


SHIRAZ, 


127 


On  his  return  to  Shiraz  from  this  journey  to  the  luins 
of  Persepolis,  he  witnessed  the  Ramazan.  He  gives  in 
his  journal  an  account  of  this  great  Mahometan  fast,  and 
we  learn  from  it  how  close  an  observer  he  was  of  all  that 
was  going  on  round  about  him,  and  what  a  just  estimate 
he  formed  of  the  events  which  passed  under  his  eye. 
We  get,  too,  from  his  remarks,  "a  striking  view,"  as  his 
biographer  observes,  "  of  the  interior  of  Mahometanism. 
We  plainly  discover  from  them  that  a  love  for  par- 
ticular popular  preachers,  a  fiery  zeal  in  religion,  a 
vehement  excitation  of  the  animal  feelings,  as  well  as 
rigid  austerities,  are  false  criterions  of  genuine  piety  ; 
for  we  see  all  these  in  their  full  perfection  amongst  the 
real  followers  of  the  Crescent,  as  well  as  amongst  the 
pretended  disciples  of  the  Cross." 

On  the  last  birthday  Martyn  lived  to  commemorate, 
we  find  this  interesting  passage  from  his  journal : — 

February  i8//z.  "This  is  my  birthday,  on  which  I 
complete  my  thirty-first  year.  The  Persian  New  Testa- 
ment has  been  begun,  and,  I  may  say,  finished  in  it,  as 
only  the  last  eight  chapters  of  the  Revelation  remain. 
Such  a  painful  year  I  never  passed,  owing  to  the  priva- 
tions I  have  been  called  to  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
spectacle  before  me  of  human  depravity  on  the  other. 
But  I  hope  I  have  not  come  to  this  seat  of  Satan  in  vain. 
The  word  of  God  has  found  its  way  into  Persia,  and  it 
is  not  in  Satan's  power  to  oppose  its  progress  if  the  Lord 
have  sent  it." 

On  the  24th  of  February,  18 12,  the  last  sheet  of  the 


128  HENRY  MARTYISr. 

New  Testament  was  completed.  "  I  have  many 
mercies,"  he  writes,  "  in  bringing  it  to  a  termination,  for 
which  I  thank  the  Lord,  and  this  is  not  the  least.  Now 
may  that  Spirit  who  gave  the  word,  and  called  me,  I 
trust,  to  be  an  interpreter  of  it,  graciously  and  powerfully 
apply  it  to  the  hearts  of  sinners,  even  to  the  gathering  an 
elect  people  from  the  long-estranged  Persians." 

By  the  middle  of  October  he  had  finished  the  version 
of  the  Psalms  in  Persian.  Alluding  to  this  work  he  has 
these  words  :  "  A  sweet  employment  which  caused  six 
weary  moons  that  waxed  and  waned  since  its  commence- 
ment to  pass  unnoticed." 

IMartyn  had  now  been  a  resident  at  Shiraz  for  ten 
months,  and  during  the  whole  of  this  time  he  had  been 
constantly  engaged  in  refuting  the  errors  of  the  people 
among  whom  his  lot  was  cast.  He  never  shrank  from 
confessing  Christ  before  men,  but  gladly  embraced 
every  occasion  of  avowing  "  whose  he  was,  and  whom 
he  served."  He  was  led  on  one  occasion  into  a  remark- 
able discussion  with  Mirza  Ibraheem.  It  took  place  in 
a  court,  the  palace  of  one  of  the  Persian  princes,  where 
a  numerous  body  of  Moollahs  were  collected,  with 
Mirza  Ibraheem  at  their  head.  Martyn  stood  up  in  the 
assembly  alone,  and  advocated,  without  flinching,  the 
claims  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  fear  of  God  cast  out 
every  other  fear.  In  the  midst  of  the  Mahometan 
conclave  he  proclaimed  and  maintained  that  funda- 
mental principle  of  Christianity,  the  Divinity  of  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God. 


SHIRAZ.  129 

After  this  intrepid  confession  of  the  Deity  of  Christ,— 
when,  as  his  biographer  remarks,  he  might  be  described 
in  the  words  applied  by  Milton  to  the  seraph  Abdiel : 

•'  Faithful  found 
Among  the  faithless  :  faithful  only  he 
Among  innumerable  false,  unmoved, 
Unshaken,  unreduced,  unterrified. 
His  loyalty  he  kept,  his  zeal,  his  love  " — 

Martyn  remained  only  a  short  time  at  Shiraz.  On  the 
evening  of  the  24th  of  May,  one  year  after  entering 
Persia,  he  left  Shiraz  in  company  with  an  English  clergy- 
man, intending  to  lay  before  the  king  his  translation  of 
the  New  Testament.  Finding,  however,  that  without  a 
letter  of  introduction  from  the  British  ambassador  he 
could  not  be  admitted  into  the  royal  presence,  he  went 
on  to  Tabriz,  where  Sir  Gore  Ouseley,  the  minister  from 
the  English  Court,  resided.  "  His  journey  from  Shiraz 
to  Tabriz  was  not  accomplished  in  less  than  eight  weeks, 
including  one  week  spent  at  Ispahan,  and  a  few  days  at 
the  king's  camp,  and  the  latter  part  of  it  was  a  time  of 
great  and  unforeseen  suffering.  Had  he  known  to  what 
peril  his  life  would  be  subjected,  he  doubtless  would 
have  deemed  his  object  of  too  insufficient  a  magnitude 
to  justify  his  exposing  himself  to  so  much  danger." 

During  this  journey  he  was  ever  -'about  his  Father's 
business,"  conversing  and  ''disputing  on  the  things  con- 
cerning the  kingdom  of  God  "  at  every  opportunity,  and 
witnessing  before  the  unbelieving  a  good  confession,  and 
fearlessly  acknowledging  Jesus  as  Lord.     Many  were  the 

K 


I30  HENRY  MARTYAT. 

difficulties  thrown  in  his  way.     Everywhere  he  met  with 
neglect  and  contumely  and  scorn. 

"  I  attended  the  Vizier's  levee,  when  there  was  a  most 
intemperate  and  clamorous  controversy  kept  up  for  an 
hour  or  two,  eight  or  ten  on  one  side,  and  I  on  the 
other.  Amongst  them  were  two  Moollahs,  the  most 
ignorant  of  any  I  have  yet  met  with  in  Persia  or  India. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  all  the  absurd 
things  they  said.  Their  vulgarity  in  interrupting  me  in 
the  middle  of  a  speech,  their  utter  ignorance  of  the 
nature  of  argument,  their  impudent  assertions  about  the 
law  and  the  gospel,  neither  of  which  they  had  ever  seen 
in  their  lives,  moved  my  indignation  a  little.  I  wished, 
and  I  said  that  it  would  have  been  well,  if  Mirza 
Abdoolwahab  had  been  there.  I  should  have  had  a 
man  of  sense  to  argue  with.  The  Vizier,  who  set  us 
going  at  first,  joined  in  it  latterly,  and  said,  '  You  had 
better  say,  "  God  is  God,  and  Mahomet  is  the  prophet 
of  God." '  I  said,  '  God  is  God,'  but  added  instead  of 
'  Mahomet  is  the  Prophet  of  God,'  '  and  Jesus  is  the  Son 
of  God.'  They  had  no  sooner  heard  this,  which  I  had 
avoided  mentioning  till  then,  than  they  all  exclaimed,  in 
contempt  and  anger,  '  He  is  neither  born,  nor  begets,' 
and  rose  up,  as  if  they  would  have  torn  me  in  pieces. 
One  of  them  said,  '  What  will  you  say  when  your  tongue 
is  burnt  out  for  such  blasphemy  ?' 

One  of  them  felt  for  me  a  little,  and  tried  to  soften 
the  severity  of  this  speech.  My  Bible  which  I  had 
brought,  expecting  to  present  it  to  the  king,  lay  before 


SHIR  A  Z. 


31 


Mirza  Shufi.  As  they  all  rose  up  after  him  to  go,  some 
to  the  king,  and  some  away,  I  was  afraid  they  would 
trample  upon  the  book,  so  I  went  in  among  them  to 
take  it  up,  and  wrapped  it  in  a  towel  before  them, 
while  they  looked  at  it  and  me  with  supreme  contempt. 
Thus  I  walked  away  alone  to  my  tent,  to  pass  the 
rest  of  the  day  in  heat  and  dirt.  What  have  I  done, 
thought  I,  to  merit  all  this  scorn?  Nothing,  I  trust, 
bat  bearing  testimony  to  Jesus.  I  thought  over  these 
things  in  prayer,  and  my  troubled  heart  found  that  peace 
which  Christ  hath  promised  to  His  disciples." 

So  it  was  throughout  that  painful  journey.  When 
he  reached  Teheran,  disappointment  awaited  him,  "  A 
message  came  from  the  Vizier  to  say  that  it  was  not  the 
king's  custom  to  see  any  Englishman,  unless  presented 
by  the  ambassador,  or  accredited  by  a  letter  from  him, 
and  that  I  must  wait  therefore  till  the  king  reached 
Sultania,  where  the  ambassador  would  be."  Turning  his 
back  upon  the  king's  camp,  he  prosecuted  his  journey 
towards  Tabriz.  On  his  arrival  at  the  village  of  Sultania, 
he  met  with  the  usual  insulting  treatment  at  the  cara- 
vansera,  where  the  king's  servants  had  got  possession  of 
a  good  room  built  for  the  reception  of  better  sort  of 
guests.  "  These  men,"  he  says,  ''  took  delight  in  the 
opportunity  of  humbling  an  European."  From  Sultania 
he  proceeded  to  Zengan,  where  he  and  all  his  party  were 
attacked  by  ague  and  fever,  and  where,  if  detained  a 
day  or  two  longer,  they  would  be  absolutely  in  want  of 
the  necessaries  of  life.     They  were  without  money,  and 


132  HENRY  MARTY N. 

no  one  would  advance  them  a  piastre.  Providentially 
a  poor  muleteer,  coming  from  Tabriz,  became  their  secu- 
rity, and  obtained  for  them  five  tomans.  "  This  was  a 
heaven-send,  and  we  lay  down  quietly  free  from  appre- 
hensions of  being  obliged  to  go  a  fatiguing  journey  of 
eight  or  ten  hours  without  a  house  or  village  in  the  way, 
in  our  present  weak  and  reduced  state.  We  had  now 
eaten  nothing  for  two  days,  and  my  mind  was  much 
disordered  from  headache  and  giddiness,  from  which  I 
was  seldom  free;  but  my  heart,  I  trust,  was  with  Christ 
and  His  saints.  To  live  much  longer  in  this  world  of 
sickness  and  pain  seemed  no  way  desirable ;  the  most 
favourite  prospects  of  my  heart  seemed  very  poor  and 
childish,  and  cheerfully  would  I  have  exchanged  them 
for  the  unfading  inheritance." 

When  he  and  the  others  had  recovered  from  this  attack 
of  fever,  and  they  hoped  to  resume  their  journey,  Martyn 
had  a  relapse  which  further  delayed  them.  "  My  ague 
and  fever  returned  with  such  a  headache  that  I  was 
almost  frantic.  Again  and  again  I  said  to  myself,  let 
patience  have  its  perfect  work,  and  kept  pleading  the 
promise,  *  When  thou  passest  through  the  waters  I  will 
be  with  thee,'  and  the  Lord  did  not  withhold  His  presence. 
A  violent  perspiration  at  last  relieved  the  acute  pain  in 
my  head,  and  my  heart  rejoiced;  but  as  soon  as  that  was 
over,  the  exhaustion  it  occasioned,  added  to  the  fatigue 
from  the  pain,  left  me  in  as  low  a  state  of  depression  as 
ever  I  was  in.  I  seemed  about  to  sink  into  a  long  faint- 
ing fit,  and   I   almost  wished  it,  but  at  this  moment,  a 


SHIRAZ.  ,33 

little  after  midnight,  I  was  summoned  to  mount  my  horse, 
and  I  set  out  rather  dead  than  alive.  We  moved  on  six 
parasangs.     We  had  a  thunderstorm  with  hail." 

At  length,  in  a  very  weakened  state,  he  arrived  at 
Tabriz  on  the  5th  of  July,  and  reaching  the  gate,  asked 
for  a  man  to  show  him  the  way  to  the  ambassador's. 

Here  for  two  months  he  was  laid  upon  a  bed  of  fever, 
and  was  defeated  in  his  intention  of  presenting  in  person 
his  translation  of  the  New  Testament  to  the  king  of 
Persia,  and  to  the  prince  his  son.  He  was  tenderly  and 
assiduously  nursed  through  his  illness  by  Sir  Gore  and 
Lady  Ouseley,  who  paid  him  all  the  attention,  and  ren- 
dered him  all  the  care  in  their  power.  Sir  Gore  took 
so  far  as  he  could  the  edge  from  Martyn's  disappoint- 
ment, about  the  personal  presentation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  the  king,  by  the  promise  that  he  himself  would 
present  it  at  court.  He  did  so,  and  the  king  publicly 
expressed  his  approbation  of  the  work.  He  also  carried 
the  manuscript  to  St.  Petersburg,  where,  under  his  super- 
intendence, it  was  printed  and  put  into  circulation. 

The  idea  of  returning  to  England,  which  first  occurred 
to  Martyn  at  Cawnpore,  and  which  was  only  abandoned 
because  it  appeared  to  be  the  Divine  will  that  he  should 
visit  Persia,  was  now  again  entertained,  in  the  hope  that 
it  might  be  beneficial  to  his  health.  What  his  feelings 
were  on  the  occasion  we  learn  from  the  following  letters, 
the  one  written  to  Mr.  Simeon  from  the  bed  of  suffering, 
and  the  other  to  Miss  Grenfell. 

To  the  first  he  writes,  "  I  would  not  pain  your  heart, 


134  HENRY  AMRTYN. 

but  we  who  are  in  Jesus  have  the  privilege  of  viewing 
life  and  death  as  nearly  the  same,  since  both  are  ours ; 
and  I  thank  a  gracious  Lord  that  sickness  never  came  at 
a  time  when  I  was  more  free  from  apparent  reasons  for 
living.  Nothing  seemingly  remains  for  me  to  do  but  to 
follow  the  rest  of  my  family  to  the  tomb." 

To  Miss  Grenfell  he  writes,  "  It  has  pleased  God 
to  restore  me  to  life  and  health  again,  not  that  I  have 
recovered  my  former  strength  yet,  but  consider  myself 
sufficiently  restored  to  prosecute  my  journey.  My  daily 
prayer  is  that  my  late  chastisement  may  have  its  intended 
effect,  and  make  me  all  the  rest  of  my  days  more  humble, 
and  less  self-confident. 

"  I  mentioned  my  contesting  sometimes  on  Divine 
subjects.  In  these  I  am  sometimes  led  on  by  the  Soofi 
Persians,  and  tell  them  all  I  know  of  the  very  recesses 
of  the  sanctuary.  But  to  give  an  account  of  all  my  dis- 
cussions with  these  mystic  philosophers  must  be  reserved 
to  the  time  of  our  meeting.  Do  I  dream,  that  I  venture 
to  think  and  write  of  such  an  event  as  that  ?  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  we  shall  ever  meet  again  below  ?  Though  it  is 
possible,  I  dare  not  indulge  such  a  pleasing  hope. 

"  In  three  days  I  intend  setting  my  horse's  head  to- 
wards Constantinople,  distant  about  one  thousand  three 
hundred  miles.  Nothing,  I  think,  will  occasion  any  fur- 
ther detention  here,  if  I  can  procure  servants  who  know- 
both  Persian  and  Turkish.  Ignorant  as  I  am  of  Turkish, 
should  I  be  taken  ill  on  the  road,  my  case  would  be 
pitiable  indeed. 


SHIRAZ,  135 

"The  ambassador  and  his  suite  are  still  here.  His  and 
Lady  Ouseley's  attentions  to  me  during  my  ilhiess  have 
been  unremitted.  The  prince,  Abba  Mirza,  the  wisest  of 
the  king's  sons,  and  heir  to  the  throne,  was  here  some 
time  after  my  arrival.  I  much  wished  to  present  a  copy 
of  the  Persian  New  Testament  to  him,  but  I  could  not 
rise  from  my  bed.  The  Book,  however,  will  be  given  to 
him  by  the  ambassador.  Public  curiosity  about  the 
gospel,  now  for  the  first  time  in  the  memory  of  the 
modern  Persians  introduced  into  the  country,  is  a  good 
deal  excited  here  and  at  Shiraz,  and  at  other  places,  so 
that  upon  the  whole  I  am  thankful  at  having  been  led 
hither  and  detained,  though  my  residence  in  this  country 
has  been  attended  with  many  unpleasant  circumstances. 
The  way  of  the  kings  of  the  East  is  preparing  :  thus 
much  may  be  said  with  safety,  but  little  more.  The 
Persians  also  will  probably  take  the  lead  in  the  march  to 
Sion." 

Martyn  also  wrote  to  Mr.  Simeon  of  his  return  to 
England  in  the  following  manner  :  "  You  will  learn  from 
Mr.  Grant  that  I  have  applied  for  leave  to  come  to  Eng- 
land on  furlough,  a  measure  you  will  disapprove  ;  but 
you  would  not  were  you  to  see  the  pitiable  condition  to 
which  I  am  reduced,  and  knew  what  it  is  to  traverse  the 
continent  of  Asia  in  the  destitute  state  in  which  I  am. 
If  you  wish  not  to  see  me,  I  can  say  that  it  is  most 
probable  that  you  will  not,  the  way  before  being  not 
better  than  that  passed  over,  which  has  nearly  killed 
me." 


w 


CHAPTER  VII. 

LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH. 

[1812.] 

ITH  very  faint  hopes  of  ever  seeing  England,  he 
set  out  on  his  long  journey  on  the  2nd  of  Sep- 
tember, 181 2.  He  carried  letters  from  Sir  Gore  Ouseley 
for  the  Governors  of  Erivan,  Kars,  and  Erzeroum,  and 
the  ambassador  at  Constantinople.  His  party  con- 
sisted of  two  Armenian  servants,  Antoine,  the  groom, 
and  Sergius,  who  was  to  accompany  him  to  Constan- 
tinople as  interpreter,  because  he  professed  to  speak 
both  Persian  and  Turkish.  His  knowledge  of  Persian 
Martyn  soon  discovered  to  be  very  small.  His  atten- 
dants were  mounted,  and  two  other  horses  carried  his 
baggage,  while  Martyn  rode  his  own.  There  was  also  a 
man  on  foot  to  brmg  back  the  cattle.  At  sunset  the 
party  left  the  western  gate  of  Tabriz  behind  them.  The 
horses  proved  to  be  sorry  animals.  One  sunk  so  often 
under  his  load  that  they  were  six  hours  going  three  or 
four  parasangs.  At  midnight  they  arrived  at  Sangla,  a 
village  in  the  middle  of  the  plain  of  Tabriz,  where  a 
place  was  procured  for  Martyn  in  the  Zabit's  house. 
The  next  afternoon  the  party  proceeded  towards  Sofian. 

136 


LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH.  137 

Martyn  thus  describes  his  feeUngs  as  with  restored 
health  he  pursued  his  journey,  and  looked  on  the 
scenery  through  which  he  passed  :  "  The  plain  of 
Tabriz,  towards  the  west  and  south-west,  stretches  away 
to  an  immense  distance,  and  is  bounded  in  these  direc- 
tions by  mountains  so  remote,  as  appear,  from  their  soft 
blue,  to  blend  with  the  skies.  The  baggage  having  been 
sent  on  before,  I  ambled  on  with  my  Mihmander,  look- 
ing all  around  me,  and  especially  towards  the  distant 
hills,  with  gratitude  and  joy.  Oh,  it  is  necessary  to 
have  been  confined  to  a  bed  of  sickness  to  know  the 
delight  of  moving  freely  through  the  works  of  God  with 
the  senses  left  at  liberty  to  enjoy  their  proper  objects. 
]\Iy  attendants  not  being  very  conversant  with  Persian, 
we  rode  silently  along ;  for  my  part  I  could  not  have  en- 
joyed any  companion  so  much  as  I  did  my  own  feelings. 
At  sunset  we  reached  Sofian,  a  village  with  gardens,  at 
the  north-west  end  of  the  plain,  usually  the  first  stage 
from  Tabriz.  The  Zabit  was  in  his  cornfield,  under  a 
little  tent,  inspecting  his  labourers,  who  were  cutting  the 
straw  fine  so  as  to  be  eaten  by  cattle.  This  was  done 
by  drawing  over  it  a  cylinder,  armed  with  blades  of  a 
triangular  form,  placed  in  different  planes,  so  that  their 
vertices  should  coincide  in  the  cylinder. 

"  The  Zabit  paid  me  no  attention,  but  sent  a  man  to 
show  me  a  place  to  sleep  in  with  only  three  walls.  I 
demanded  another  with  four,  and  was  accordingly  con 
ducted  to  a  weaver's,  where,  notwithstanding  the  mos- 
quitoes and  other  vermin,  I  passed  the  night  comfort- 


138  HENRY  MARTYN. 

ably  enough.  On  my  offering  money,  the  Mihmander 
interfered,  and  said  if  it  were  known  that  I  had  given 
money,  he  should  be  ruined ;  and  added,  *  they  indeed 
dare  not  take  it,'  but  this  I  did  not  find  to  be  the  case." 

So  he  travelled  onward  day  by  day,  though  *'  troubled 
on  every  side,  yet  not  distressed ;  perplexed,  yet  not  in 
despair";  his  trust  in  God,  and  able  to  enjoy  the  beauty 
and  interest  of  the  scenes  through  which  he  journeyed. 

September  6tk.  "  Soon  after  twelve  we  started  with 
fresh  horses  and  came  to  the  Arar  or  Araxes,  distant  two 
parasangs,  and  about  as  broad  as  the  Isis,  with  a  current 
as  strong  as  that  of  the  Ganges.  The  ferry-boat  being 
on  the  other  side,  I  lay  down  to  sleep  till  it  came  ;  but 
observing  my  servants  do  the  same,  I  was  obliged  to  get 
up  and  exert  myself.  It  dawned,  however,  before  we 
got  over.  The  boat  was  a  huge  fabric  in  the  form  of  a 
rhombus.  The  ferryman  had  only  a  stick  to  push  with  ; 
an  oar,  I  daresay,  he  had  never  seen  or  heard  of;  and 
many  of  my  train  had  also  probably  never  floated  be- 
fore, so  alien  is  a  Persian  from  everything  that  belongs 
to  shipping.  We  landed  safely  on  the  other  side  in 
about  ten  minutes.  We  were  four  hours  in  reaching 
Nackshan,  and  for  half  an  hour  more  I  was  led  from 
street  to  street,  till  at  last  I  was  lodged  in  a  wash-house 
belonging  to  a  great  man,  a  corner  of  which  was  cleaned 
out  for  me.  It  was  near  noon,  and  my  baggage  had  not 
arrived,  so  that  I  was  obliged  to  go  without  my  break- 
ast,  which  was  hard  after  a  ride  of  four  hours  in  the  sun. 
The  baggage  was  delayed  so  long  that  I  began  to  fear ; 


LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH.  139 

however,  it  arrived.  All  the  afternoon  I  slept,  and  at 
sunset  rose  and  continued  wakeful  till  midnight,  when  I 
roused  my  people  and  with  fresh  horses  set  out  again. 
We  travelled  till  sunrise.  I  scarcely  perceived  we  had 
been  moving,  a  Hebrew  word  in  the  i6th  Psalm  having 
led  me  gradually  to  speculations  on  the  eighth  conjuga- 
tion of  the  Arabic  verb.  I  am  glad  my  philological 
curiosity  is  revived,  as  my  mind  will  be  less  liable  to 
idleness." 

It  is  thus  again  that  he  writes  of  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  heights  of  Scripture  which  came  into  view  at 
Nackshan  :  "  I  should  have  mentioned  that  on  descend- 
ing into  the  plain  Nackshan,  my  attention  was  seized  by 
the  appearance  of  a  hoary  mountain  in  front,  at  the  other 
end,  rising  so  high  above  the  rest  that  they  sunk  into 
nothing.  It  was  truly  sublime,  and  the  interest  it  ex- 
cited was  not  less  when,  on  inquiring  its  name,  I  was 
told  it  was  Agri,  or  Ararat.  Thus  I  saw  two  remarkable 
objects  in  one  day, — the  Araxes  and  Ararat.  At  four  in 
the  afternoon  we  set  out  for  Shurrer.  The  evening  was 
pleasant.  The  ground  over  which  we  passed  was  all 
full  of  rich  cultivation  and  verdure,  watered  by  many  a 
stream,  and  containing  forty  villages,  most  of  them  with 
the  usual  jfppendage  of  gardens.  To  add  to  the  scene, 
the  great  Ararat  was  on  our  left.  On  the  peak  of  that 
hill  the  whole  Church  was  contamed.  It  has  now  spread 
far  and  wide  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  but  the  ancient 
vicinity  of  it  knows  it  no  more.  I  fancied  many  a  spot 
where    Noah    perhaps    offered   his    sacrifices ;    and  the 


140  HENRY  MARTYN. 

promise  of  God,  "  that  seed-time  and  harvest  should  not 
cease,"  appeared,  to  me,  more  anxiously  fulfilled  in  the 
agreeable  plain  where  it  was  spoken  than  elsewhere,  as 
I  had  not  seen  such  fertility  in  any  part  of  the  Shah's 
dominion.  Here  the  blessed  Saint  landed  in  a  new 
world.  So  may  I,  safe  in  Christ,  outride  the  storms 
of  life,  and  land  at  last  on  one  of  the  everlasting 
hills." 

On  the  1 8th  of  September,  after  several  days  of  travel, 
during  which  he  had  an  interview  with  the  patriarch  of 
the  Armenian  Church,  with  whom  and  other  members  of 
that  communion  he  had  some  interesting  conversation, 
he  left  the  plain  of  Ararat.  It  was  here  that  the  follow- 
ing incident  occurred  which  shows  how  narrowly  he  at 
times  escaped  dangers  which  threatened  his  life  : — 

"  Meeting  with  the  Araxes  again,  I  undressed  and 
plunged  into  the  stream.  While  hastening  forward  with 
the  trusty  Melcom,  to  rejoin  my  party,  w^e  were  over- 
taken by  a  spearman  with  a  lance  of  formidable  length. 
I  did  not  think  it  likely  that  one  man  would  venture 
to  attack  two,  both  armed  ;  but  the  spot  was  a  noted 
one  for  robbers,  and  very  well  calculated  by  its  soUtari- 
ness  for  deeds  of  privacy.  However,  he  was  friendly 
enough.  He  had,  however,  nearly  done  me  a  mischief. 
On  the  bank  of  the  river  we  sprung  a  covey  of  partridges. 
Instantly  he  laid  his  long  lance  under  him  across  the 
horse's  back,  and  fired  a  pistol  at  them.  His  horse 
starting  at  the  report,  came  upon  mine  with  the  point 
of  the  spear  directly  towards  me,  so  that  I  thought  a 


LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH.  141 

wound  for  myself  or  horse  was  inevitable,  but  the 
spear  passed  under  my  horse." 

He  proceeded  on  his  journey  through  places  which 
since  his  time  have  come  into  prominence,  and  from 
events  that  are  now  historical,  are  more  generally  known 
than  they  were  then,  such  as  Erzeroum  and  Kars.  Some- 
times his  path  lay  through  the  crowded  streets  of  the 
busy  town,  and  sometimes  through  the  wooded  forest, 
at  others  over  many  a  hill  and  dale. 

It  is  thus  he  describes  the  incidents  of  one  day's 
journey  : — 

Sepieinher  22,rd.  "Our  way  lay  through  a  forest  of 
firs,  and  the  variety  of  prospect  it  afforded,  of  hill  and 
dale,  wood  and  lawn,  was  beautiful  and  romantic.  No 
mark  of  human  workmanship  was  anywhere  visible  for 
miles,  except  where  some  trees  had  fallen  by  the  stroke 
of  the  woodman.  We  saw,  at  last,  a  few  huts  in  the 
thickest  clumps,  and  that  is  all  we  saw  of  the  Kurds, 
for  fear  of  whom  I  was  attended  by  ten  armed  horsemen. 
We  frightened  a  company  of  villagers  again  to-day. 
They  were  bringing  wood  and  grass  from  the  forest, 
and  on  seeing  us,  drew  up.  One  of  our  party  advanced 
and  fired.  Such  a  rash  piece  of  sport  I  thought  must 
have  been  followed  by  serious  mischief,  but  all  passed 
off  very  well.  With  the  forest  I  was  delighted.  The 
clear  streams  in  the  valleys,  the  lofty  trees  croAvning  the 
summits  of  the  hills,  the  smooth  paths  winding  away 
and  losing  themselves  in  the  dark  woods,  and  above  all, 
the  solitude  that  reigned,  composed  a  scene  that  tended 


142 


HENRY  MARTYN. 


to  harmonize  and  solemnize  the  mind.  What  displays 
of  taste  and  magnificence  are  there  occasionally  on  this 
ruined  earth  !  Nothing  was  wanting  to-day  but  the 
absence  of  the  Turks,  to  avoid  the  sight  and  sound  of 
whom  I  rode  on.  After  a  ride  of  nine  hours  and  a  half, 
we  reached  Mijingud,  in  the  territory  of  Erzeroum,  and 
resolved  not  to  be  annoyed  in  the  same  way  as  last 
night.  I  left  the  Tartar  in  the  undisturbed  possession 
of  the  post-house,  and  took  up  my  quarters  at  an 
Armenian's,  where  in  the  stable-room  I  expected  to 
be  left  alone,  but  a  Georgian  young  man  on  his  way 
from  Ech-Miazin,  going  on  pilgrimage  to  Moosk,  where 
John  the  Baptist  is  supposed  to  be  buried,  presuming 
on  his  assiduous  attentions  to  me,  contrived  to  get  a 
place  for  himself  in  the  same  room." 

The  following  extract  from  his  journal,  amongst  the 
last  which  he  penned,  gives  us  an  account  of  his  state 
of  body  and  mind  at  this  time,  when  he  was  drawing 
near  the  close  of  his  heroic  life. 

October  ist,  "  Marched  over  a  mountainous  tract. 
We  were  out  from  seven  in  the  morning  till  eight  at 
night.  After  sitting  a  little  by  the  fire,  I  was  near 
fainting  from  sickness.  My  depression  of  spirits  led 
me  to  the  throne  of  grace  as  a  sinful  abject  worm.  When 
I  thought  of  myself  and  my  transgressions,  I  could  find 
no  text  so  cheering  as,  *  My  ways  are  not  your  ways.' 
By  the  men  who  accompanied  Sir  William  Ouseley  to 
Constantinople,  I  learned  that  the  plague  was  raging 
at    Constantinople,   and    thousands    dying    every   day. 


LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH.  143 

One  of  the  Persians  had  died  of  it.  They  added  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Tocat  were  flying  from  their  town 
from  the  same  cause.  Thus  I  am  passing  inevitably 
into  imminent  danger.  O  Lord,  Thy  will  be  done  ! 
Living  or  dying,  remember  me  ! " 

It  was  not  wonderful  that  the  daily  fatigue  of  travel, 
and  the  alternations  of  heat  and  cold,  along  with  the 
privations  which  he  suffered,  should  tell  injuriously  on 
his  weakened  frame. 

What  a  record  of  suffering  have  we  in  this  narrative 
of  his  journey  as  he  makes  for  Tocat  ! 

October  2nd.  "  Some  hours  before  day  sent  to  tell 
the  Tartar  I  was  ready  ;  but  Hasan  Agra  was  for  once 
riveted  to  his  bed.  However,  at  eight,  having  got 
strong  horses,  he  set  off  at  a  great  rate ;  and  over  the 
level  ground  he  made  us  gallop  as  fast  as  the  horses 
could  go  to  Chifflick,  where  we  arrived  at  sunset.  I 
was  lodged,  at  my  request,  in  the  stable  of  the  post- 
house,  not  liking  the  scrutinising  impudence  of  the 
fellows  who  frequent  the  coffee-room.  As  soon  as  it 
began  to  grow  a  little  cold,  the  ague  came  on,  and 
then  the  fever;  after  which  I  had  a  sleep  that  let  me 
know  too  plainly  the  disorder  of  my  frame.  In  the 
night  Hasan  sent  to  summon  me  away,  but  I  was  quite 
unable  to  move.  Finding  me  still  in  bed  at  the  dawn, 
he  began  to  storm  furiously  at  my  detaming  him  so  long  ; 
but  I  gently  let  him  spend  his  ire,  ate  my  breakfast 
composedly,  and  set  out  at  eight.  He  seemed  deter- 
mined to  make  up  for  the  delay,  for  we  flew  over  hill 


144  HENRY  MARTYN. 

and  vale  to  Sherean,  where  he  changed  horses.  From 
thence  we  travelled  all  the  rest  of  the  day  and  all  night. 
It  rained  most  of  the  time.  Soon  after  sunset  the  ague 
came  on  again,  which  in  my  wet  state  was  very  trying. 
I  hardly  knew  how  to  keep  my  life  in  me.  About  that 
time  there  was  a  village  at  hand,  but  Hasan  had  no 
mercy.  At  one  in  the  morning  we  found  two  men 
under  a  wain,  with  a  good  fire.  They  could  not  keep 
the  rain  out,  but  their  fire  was  acceptable.  I  dried  my 
lower  extremities,  allayed  the  fever  by  drinking  a  good 
deal  of  water,  and  went  on.  We  had  little  rain,  but  the 
night  was  pitchy  dark,  so  that  I  could  not  see  where 
the  road  was  under  my  horse's  feet.  However,  God 
being  mercifully  pleased  to  alleviate  my  bodily  sufferings, 
I  went  on  contentedly  to  the  Munzil,  where  we  arrived 
at  break  of  day.  After  sleeping  three  or  four  hours,  I 
was  visited  by  an  Armenian  merchant  for  whom  I  had 
a  letter.  Hasan  was  in  great  fear  of  being  arrested  here ; 
the  governor  of  the  city  had  vowed  to  make  an  example 
of  him  for  riding  to  death  a  horse  belonging  to  a  man 
of  this  place.  He  begged  that  I  would  shelter  him  in 
case  of  danger;  his  being  claimed  by  an  Englishman, 
he  said,  would  be  a  sufficient  security.  I  found,  how- 
ever, that  I  had  no  occasion  to  interfere.  He  hurried 
me  away  from  this  place  without  delay,  and  galloped 
furiously  towards  a  village  which  he  said  was  four  hours' 
distance,  which  was  all  I  could  undertake  in  my  present 
weak  state.  But  village  after  village  did  he  pass,  till, 
night  coming  on,  and  no  signs  of  another,  I  suspected 


LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH.  145 

that  he  was  carrying  me  to  the  Munzil  ;  so  I  got  off 
my  horse,  and  sat  upon  the  ground,  and  told  him  I 
neither  could  nor  would  go  any  farther.  He  stormed, 
but  I  was  immovable,  till,  a  light  appearing  at  a  distance, 
I  mounted  my  horse  and  made  towards  it,  leaving  him 
to  follow  or  not,  as  he  pleased.  He  brought  in  the 
party,  but  would  not  exert  himself  to  get  a  place  for 
me.  They  brought  me  to  an  open  verandah,  but  Sergius 
told  them  I  wanted  a  place  in  which  to  be  alone.  This 
seemed  very  offensive  to  them.  And  why  must  he  be 
alone?  they  asked,  ascribing  this  desire  of  mine  to 
pride,  I  suppose.  Tempted  at  last  by  money,  they 
brought  me  to  a  stable-room,  and  Hasan  and  a  number 
of  others  planted  themselves  there  with  me.  My  fever 
here  increased  to  a  violent  degree.  The  heat  in  my 
eyes  and  forehead  was  so  great  that  the  fire  almost 
made  me  frantic.  I  entreated  that  it  might  be  put 
out,  or  that  I  might  be  carried  out  of  doors.  Neither 
was  attended  to.  My  servant,  who  from  my  sitting 
in  that  strange  way  on  the  ground  beHeved  me  delirious, 
was  deaf  to  all  I  said.  At  last  I  pushed  my  head  in 
among  the  luggage,  and  lodged  it  on  the  damp  ground 
and  slept." 

He  awoke  somewhat  refreshed  in  the  morning, 
though  feehng  feeble  and  shaken,  and  was  again 
hurried  off  in  his  journey  by  the  merciless  Hasan.  He 
reached  the  Munzil,  which  was  not  far  distant,  without 
much  difficulty,  expecting  to  find  it  another  strong  fort 
at  the  end  of  the  pass,  whereas  it  was  but  a  poor  Httle 

L 


146  HENRY  MARTYN. 

village  in  the  jaws  of  the  mountains.  Here  he  was 
fairly  lodged,  and  felt  tolerably  well,  till  a  little  after 
sunset,  when  the  ague  returned  with  a  violence  he  had 
never  experienced  before.  He  felt  as  if  in  a  palsy,  his 
teeth  chattering,  and  his  whole  frame  violently  shaken. 
Two  Persians  on  their  way  from  Constantinople  going 
to  Abbas  ]\Iirza,  rendered  him  what  assistance  they 
could,  and  their  kindness  contrasted  favourably  with 
the  indifference  of  the  Turks.  Hasan  only  thought  of 
the  delay  his  illness  was  Hkely  to  occasion.  The  cold 
fit,  after  two  or  three  hours,  was  followed  by  a  fever 
which  lasted  the  whole  night,  and  prevented  sleep. 

His  sorijws,  however,  were  near  an  end.  A  few 
days  longer,  and  for  him  sorrow  and  sighing  should  be 
no  more.  "He  had  fought  the  good  fight,  and  kept 
the  faith."  He  had  been  found  faithful  unto  death, 
and  the  crown  of  life  was  being  prepared  for  his  brows. 
Soon  would  the  starry  portals  of  heaven  open  to  admit 
his  soul  among  the  choir  of  the  redeemed. 
His  last  recorded  words  were  these  : — 
Oct.  6th.  "No  horses  being  to  be  had,  I  had  an 
unexpected  repose.  I  sat  in  the  orchard,  and  thought 
with  sweet  comfort  and  peace  of  my  God ; — in  soli- 
tude,— my  company,  my  Friend  and  Comforter.  Oh, 
when  shall  time  give  place  to  eternity?  When  shall 
appear  that  new  heaven  and  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness  ?  There — there  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
in  anything  that  defileth ;  none  of  that  wickedness 
which   has   made  men  worse  than   wild   beasts ;    none 


LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH.  147 

of  those  corruptions  that  add  still  more  to  the 
miseries  of  mortality,  shall  be  seen  or  heard  of  any 
more." 

Ten  days  after  these  heavenly  aspirations — on  the 
1 6th  of  October,  18 12— at  the  early  age  of  thirty-two, 
either  falling  a  victim  to  the  plague,  or  sinking  under 
the  fever  which  had  so  greatly  reduced  his  strength, 
Martyn  entered  the  presence  of  the  Saviour,  "whom 
having  not  seen  he  loved,  and  in  whom,  though  he  now 
saw  Him  not,  yet  believing  he  rejoiced  with  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory." 

There  is  something  pathetic  in  the  thought  of  that 
lonely  death-bed  in  a  foreign  land.  No  kinsman  was 
near  to  watch  his  last  look,  or  receive  his  last  words. 
No  friend  stood  by  his  couch  to  whisper  encouraging 
words,  to  close  his  eyes,  or  wipe  the  death-sweat  from 
his  brow.  Those  whose  privilege  it  would  have  been 
to  perform  these  last  offices  of  love  were  anxiously 
expecting  tidings  of  his  arrival  either  in  India  or 
England.  For  they  knew  that  he  was  hastening  home 
with  the  hope  of  repairing  his  shattered  strength,  that 
he  might  again  devote  himself  to  the  work  of  evan- 
gelizing the  East.  And  what  fond  thoughts  of  his 
native  land,  of  affectionate  relatives  and  friends,  and 
of  all  that  made  England  dear,  may  have  rushed  in  a 
flood  of  thrilling  hopes  and  anticipations  on  his  soul ! 
It  may  have  been  with  him  as  it  was  with  the  traveller 
who  laid  him  down  to  die  on  the  burning  sands  of 
Africa,   before  whose   closing    eyes   came    floating    up 


148  HENRY  MARTYN. 

visions  of  the  past,  and  in  whose  ears  there  rang  old 
familiar  voices,  and  who  said  in  almost  his  last  words  : 
"I  have  just  heard  the  sound  of  an  English  funeral  bell." 

But  however  apparently  lonely  Martyn's  dying  bed, 
and  whatever  yearning  thoughts  of  friends  and  country 
may  have  crossed  his  mind,  of  one  thing  we  may  be 
certain^  that  he  was  not  alone ;  that  Christ  was  near  to 
*'  loose  the  silver  cord,  and  break  the  golden  bowl "  at 
the  fountain;  yea,  we  may  be  very  sure  that  "under- 
neath were  the  everlasting  arms,  and  the  eternal  God 
his  refuge." 

His  death  could  not  fail  of  making  a  great  impres- 
sion on  all  to  whom  the  cause  and  kingdom  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  dear.  "  He  was  in  our  hearts," 
writes  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thomason ;  "  we  honoured  him, 
we  loved  him,  we  thanked  God  for  him,  we  prayed 
for  his  longer  continuance  amongst  us;  we  rejoiced  in 
the  good  he  was  doing ;  we  are  sadly  bereaved.  When 
such  fervent  piety,  and  extensive  knowledge,  and 
vigorous  understanding,  and  classical  taste,  and  un- 
wearied application,  were  all  united,  what  might  not 
have  been  expected  ?  I  cannot  dwell  upon  the  subject 
without  feeling  very  sad.  I  stand  upon  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem,  and  see  the  lamentable  breach  that  has 
been  made  in  them ;  but  it  is  the  Lord, — '  He  gave, 
and  He  hath  taken  away.'" 

"  A  more  perfect  character,"  says  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Corrie,  "  I  never  met  with,  nor  expect  to  see  again  on 
earth.     During  the  four  years  we  were  fellow-labourers 


LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH.  149 

in  this  country,  I  had  no  less  than  six  opportunities 
of  enjoying  his  company,  and  every  opportunity  only 
increased  my  love  and  veneration  for  him." 

Sir  James  Stephen  says  that  "Martyn's  is  the  one 
heroic  name  which  adorns  the  annals  of  the  English 
Church  from  the  days  of  Elizabeth  to  our  own  " ;  and 
whether  we  agree  or  not  in  an  assertion  so  sweeping 
and  so  wide,  considering  the  many  devoted  men  and 
ardent  missionaries  which  that  Church  has  nourished 
within  her  fold,  we  can  crown  him  with  all  a  hero's 
honours,  for  he  forsook  all  for  Clirist,  and  "loved  not 
his  life  unto  the  death." 

It  may  truly  be  affirmed  of  him  that  ''he,  being  dead, 
yet  speaketh.''  "Tidings  of  the  death  of  Henry 
Martyn,"  says  Sir  James  Stephen,  "reached  England 
during  the  parliamentary  debates  on  the  renewal  of 
the  East  India  Company's  Charter,  and  gave  new  im- 
petus to  the  zeal  with  which  the  friends  and  patrons 
of  his  youth  were  then  contending  for  the  establish- 
ment of  an  episcopal  see  at  Calcutta,  and  for  the 
removal  of  all  restraints  on  the  diffusion  of  Chris- 
tianity within  its  limits." 

Many  a  Christian  has  been  roused  to  greater  zeal, 
and  stirred  to  higher  attainments  in  holiness  by 
Martyn's  example  ;  and  many  a  young  man,  stimulated 
by  the  same  pattern,  has  left  all  to  become  a  missionary 
of  the  Cross.  Mr.  Simeon  used  to  say  when  he  looked 
at  his  picture  :  "  Look  at  that  blessed  man ;  be  in  ear- 
nest i  don't  trifle,  don't  trifle." 


I50  HENRY  MARTYN. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  quote  here  the  lines  written 
on  the  tomb  of  this  saint  and  martyr  by  Lord  Macau- 
lay  : — 

**  Here  Martyn  lies  !     In  manhood's  early  bloom 
The  Christian  hero  found  a  Pagan  tomb ; 
Religion,  sorrowing  o'er  her  favourite  son, 
Points  to  the  glorious  trophies  which  he  won. 
Eternal  trophies,  not  with  slaughter  red, 
Not  stained  with  tears  by  hopeless  captives  shed  ; 
But  trophies  of  the  Cross.     For  that  dear  name 
Through  every  form  of  danger,  death,  and  shame, 
Onward  he  journeyed  to  a  happier  shore, 
Where  danger,  death,  and  shame  are  known  no  more." 

Not  altogether  melancholy  are  the  thoughts  with 
which  we  contemplate  that  lonely  grave  at  Tocat. 
"  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord " ;  and 
they  that  have  served  God  in  the  martyr's  spirit  shall 
be  rewarded  with  the  martyr's  crown.  The  resting-places 
of  the  just  can  never  be  connected  in  our  minds  with 
what  is  sad :  rather  are  they  associated  with  honour, 
and  reverence  and  love.  Nor  is  there  the  tomb  of  any 
one  of  India's  conquerors,  however  decorated  and 
adorned,  however  made  the  subject  of  the  poet's  eu- 
logy or  the  historian's  praise,  that  is  to  be  chosen  in 
preference  to  the  humble  grave  of  Henry  Martyn.  In 
consecrating  his  life  to  God,  he  did  deeds  which  attract 
the  admiration  of  heaven,  and  whose  issues  shall  be  felt 
to  the  furthest  eternity.  He  lacked  the  honours  that 
come  from  man,  but  his  record  is-  on  high.  By  preaching 
the  gospel  to  the  ignorant,  and  by  causing  languages, 


LAST  JOURNEY  AND  DEATH.  151 

hitherto  dumb  as  regards  its  glorious  truths,  to  speak 
through  them  to  the  heart  and  to  the  conscience,  he 
made  the  oracles  of  God  accessible  to  millions,  and  be- 
came the  author  of  blessings  which  shall  never  be  known 
till  time  shall  be  no  more.  His  reward  may  not  have 
been  such  as  follows  the  hero  of  the  age,  and  who  receives 
the  loud  applause  of  mankind,  but  it  is  one  better, 
nobler,  and  more  enduring ;  and  when  thrones  have  crum- 
bled, and  empires  have  sunk  into  ruin,  and  when  heaven 
and  earth  have  passed  away,  the  crown  shall  sparkle  on 
his  brow,  and  the  palm  wave  greenly  in  his  hand.  Mean- 
while his  name  is  enshrined  in  the  great  heart  of  the 
Church's  love ;  nor  will  it  ever  cease  to  blend  with  her 
most  cherished  recollections,  until  she  pass  from  her 
militant  into  her  triumphant  condition,  when  it  shall  be 
lost  in  the  brighter  glories  of  that  ''  new  name  which  no 
man  knoweth,  saving  he  that  receiveth  it,"  and  which  is 
to  be  given  to  all  who  overcome. 

**  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  Christian  life  ? 
Is  it  success  ?  or  vulgar  wealth?  a  name? 
Is  it  a  weary  struggle, — a  mean  strife 

For  rank,  low  gauds,  ambition,  or  for  fame  ? 
What  sow  we  for  ?    The  world  ?    For  fleeting  time  ? 
Or  far-off  harvests,  richer,  more  sublime  ? 

•*  The  brightest  life  on  earth  was  one  of  loss ; 

The  noblest  head  was  wreathed  with  sharpest  thorn 
Has  He  not  consecrated  pain— the  Cross  ? 

What  higher  crown  can  Christian  brows  adorn  ? 
Be  we  content  to  follow  on  the  road 

Which  men  count  failure,  but  which  leads  to  God  ! " 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SELECTIONS  FROM  MARTYN'S  CORRESPONDENCE, 

IT  has  been  thought  well  to  give  a  few  letters  from 
Martyn's  correspondence,  selected  out  of  many. 
They  are  taken  from  different  periods  of  his  life, 
beginning  with  his  college  days,  extending  over  his 
sojourn  in  India  and  Persia,  and  concluding  with  a  letter 
written  a  few  months  before  his  death.  They  will  show 
what  manner  of  man  he  was,  and  as  the  date  of  each 
letter  is  given,  they  will  serve  to  illustrate  his  biography. 

Amongst  them  will  be  found  some  to  Miss  Grenfell, 
with  whom  he  kept  up  a  correspondence  to  the  close  of 
his  life.  The  last  letter  is  to  her.  Many  of  his  letters 
are  necessarily  excluded  from  the  present  volume,  and 
those  only  are  printed  which,  it  is  thought,  will  contain 
the  greatest  interest  for  the  reader.  Those  to  Miss 
Grenfell  were  bequeathed  by  her  to  his  biographer  and 
friend,  the  Rev.  John  Sargent,  that  after  her  death  he 
might  use  them  for  publication  if  he  thought  fit. 

The  letters  cannot  fail  of  possessing  an  interest  for  all 
to  whom  "  the  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed,"  for  they 
throw  a  light  on  Martyn's  character,  on  his  peculiar  tem- 
perament, and  the  trials  and  temptations  to  which  he  was 
exposed.    As  we  read  them  we  may  not  approve  of  every 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESEONDENCE.     153 

sentiment,  or  endorse  every  opinion,  but  they  sketch  for 
us  the  portrait  of  a  man  of  eminent  humility,  and  of 
singular  faith  and  love. 

The  letters  are  placed  at  the  close  of  his  biography, 
rather  than  in  the  life  itself,  that  the  narrative  may  not 
be  broken  more  than  is  necessary  by  the  insertion  of  the 
correspondence.  As  the  dates  are  given  with  the  letters, 
they  can  easily  be  used  by  the  reader,  if  he  wishes  to 
refer  to  the  particular  time  at  which  they  were  written, 
or  to  the  special  place  where  they  were  penned. 

To  THE  Rev.  John  Sargent. 

"  Siaansea,  August  9//^,  1802. 
''Dear  Sargent, — You  see  by  the  date  of  my  letter 
that  I  have  almost  reached  the  end  of  my  long  pilgrim- 
age. Our  first  resting-place  was  Wenlock  in  Shropshire, 
from  whence  we  went  on  the  Sunday  to  Madeley  Church. 
You  must  have  heard  of  Mr.  Fletcher,  who  was  formerly 

rector  of  this  place.     We  were  introduced  to  Mrs.  F 

by  a  young  man  who  first  introduced  himself  to  us.  We 
took  some  cofi'ee  with  him  afterwards,  and  he  told  us  he 
had  formerly  been  a  cornet  in  the  15th  Light  Dragoons, 
but  had  retired  from  the  world,  and  had  now  lived  in 
solitude  nearly  three  years,  employed  in  nothing  but 
reading  the  Bible  and  visiting  the  sick.  He  was  perfectly 
meek  and  gentle  in  his  manners,  and  seemed  quite  happy. 
I  leave  you  to  make  your  own  reflections  on  this  pheno- 
menon. From  Wenlock  we  became  pedestrians,  and 
went  successively  to  Shrewsbury,  the  Vale  of  Llangollen, 
and  Chester,  from  whence  we  sailed  down  the  Mersey  to 
Liverpool;  from  this  place  I  proceeded  to  Holywell,  etc., 
alone. 


154  HENRY  MARTYN: 

"  Thus  have  I  been  preserved  by  the  protecting  provi- 
dence of  God,  and  been  endued  with  bodily  strength  to 
accomplish  my  journey  with  ease.  I  have  never  once 
wished  for  a  companion ;  even  in  the  most  gloomy 
moments  I  have  found  the  Bible  a  never-failing  source 
of  interesting  thought." 

To  THE  Same. 

^^ St.  Johiis^  January  I'jth^  1803. 

"  My  dear  Sargent, — I  find  from ,  that  you  really 

expect  me  to  fultil  a  promise  I  never  made.  However, 
as  you  allow  me  to  send  you  even  a  skeleton  of  a  letter, 
I  sit  down  resolved  to  avail  myself  of  the  permission  if  I 
find  it  necessary. 

"G and  H seem  to  disapprove  of  my  pro- 
ject much,  and  on  this  account  I  have  been  rather 
discouraged  of  late,  though  not  in  any  degree  convinced. 
It  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  go  out  with  the  full 
approbation  of  my  friends,  but  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt 
to  please  man.  In  doubtful  cases,  we  are  to  use  the 
opinions  of  others  no  further  than  as  means  of  directing 
our  own  judgment.  My  sister  has  also  objected  to  it, 
on  the  score  of  my  deficiency  in  that  deep  and  solid 
experience  necessary  in  a  missionary.  You  have  taken 
rooms,  I  think  in  the  Temple,  so  that  the  providence  of 
God  seems  to  have  called  you  irrevocably  to  the  pro- 
fession of  the  law.  Though  I  cannot  help  regretting 
that  one  so  well  qualified  to  preach  the  glad  tidings  of 
salvation  should  be  called  off  to  labour  in  the  business 
of  this  world,  yet  we  may  be  sure,  that  whatever  is  un- 
dertaken according  to  His  will,  will  be  attended  with  His 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESPONDENCE.     155 

blessing.  You  will,  I  dare  say,  find  a  double  degree  of 
watchfulness  necessary  to  preserve  a  proper  state  of 
mind.  In  the  case  of  those  who  minister  in  the  sanc- 
tuary, temporal  and  spiritual  occupations  are  one ; 
corresponding  to  the  necessity  of  a  superior  degree  of 
hohness  in  those  who  are  to  be  examples.  But  in  your 
case,  even  a  common  degree  of  spirituality  cannot  be 
maintained  without  much  attention.  Many  have  found 
that  occasional  aspirations  after  God  have  been  made 
the  channels  of  the  communications  of  His  grace  in  the 
midst  of  worldly  business,  and  have  left  the  mind  not 
disqualified  for  the  employments  of  heaven.  Indeed, 
this  seems  to  be  a  good  criterion  of  our  state.  For 
surely  the  new-born  soul  never  more  truly  acts  according 
to  its  heavenly  nature,  than  when  it  delights  to  shake  off 
the  clogs  of  earth,  and  to  leave  the  world  beneath  it,  and 
to  rise  exultingly  to  God.  Though  it  is  hard  to  be  thus 
minded,  yet  it  is  undoubtedly  our  privilege ;  but  nothing 
but  almighty  grace  is  sufficient  for  these  things,  as  the 
coldness  we  all  feel  manifests.  I  have  been  reading 
Hopkins's  sermons  to-day.  I  would  give  you  my  opinion 
of  them  (I  could  willingly  fill  the  sheet),  but  the  time 
does  not  allow  me.     Therefore,  adieu." 


Dear  Sargent, - 


To  THE  Same. 

^^  St.  John's,  June  2iOtJi,  1803. 


**  I  feel  ashamed  that  you  express  any  satisfaction  in 
corresponding  with  me.  God  only  knows  how  poor  and 
ghallow  I  am ;  and  if  any  good  should  ever  arise  to  you 
t>y  my  means,  it  must   be  ascribed  to   His  wisdom,  who 


156  HENRY  MARTYN. 

can  use  the  meanest  instruments  to  effect  His  purposes. 
What  shall  I  say  to  Him  for  giving  me  such  a  friend  as 
you  are  likely  to  prove  !  One  who  fears  not  to  give 
offence  by  speaking  the  truth,  and  who  would  seek  to 
improve  the  spirit,  rather  than  please  the  flesh.  .  .  . 
May  you,  as  long  as  you  shall  give  me  your  acquaint- 
ance, direct  me  to  the  casting  down  of  all  high  imagina- 
tions. Possibly  it  may  be  a  cross  to  you  to  tell  me  or 
any  one  of  his  faults.  But  should  I  be  at  last  a  castaway, 
or  at  least  dishonour  Christ  through  some  sin,  which, 
for  want  of  faithful  admonition,  remained  unmortified, 
how  bitter  would  be  your  reflections  !  I  conjure  you, 
therefore,  my  dear  friend,  as  you  value  the  good  of  the 
souls  to  whom  I  am  to  preach,  and  my  own  eternal 
interests,  that  you  tell  me  what  you  think  to  be,  in  my 
life,  spirit,  or  temper,  not  according  to  the  will  of  God 
my  Saviour.  You  profess  your  need  of  humiliation.  I 
wish  my  own  experience  could  assist  you  in  this  the 
most  important  part  of  our  sanctification.  In  examining 
myself  according  to  your  advice  on  this  head,  it  seems 
(for  the  work  of  inquiry  is  so  exceedingly  difficult  that  I 
can  hardly  say  with  certainty  what  I  have  known,  or 
whether  I  have  known  anything  on  this  subject)  that  I 
seek  my  humility  rather  from  views  of  Gods  greatness 
and  the  example  of  Christ,  than  of  my  own  corruption. 
Now,  though  the  former  views  may  assist  in  producing 
the  effect,  yet  the  impressions  arising  from  them  are 
necessarily  transient,  whereas  that  humility  which  arises 
from  just  views  of  ourselves  may  be  as  abiding  as  our  own 
consciousness,  and  be  brought  into  exercise  by  every- 
thing we  do,  or  speak,  or  think.  It  has  greatly  dis- 
tressed  me  to  thuik  how  slow  my  heart  is  to  yield  to  the 
convictions  of  reason,  how  unable  to  mourn   when    I 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESPONDENCE.     157 

should  be  lying  low  in  the  dust  On  reading  the  words 
of  our  Lord  to  the  lukewarm  Laodiceans,  the  form  of 
the  words  is  very  striking  and  comforting  :  '  Because 
thou  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched,  etc.,  I  counsel 
thee  to  buy  of  Me  eye-salve,  that  thou  mayest  see ' ;  so 
that  there  is  provision  made  for  those  whom  of  all  others 
God  holds  most  in  abhorrence,  the  blind  (to  their  sins), 
the  hard-hearted,  and  the  proud.  Were  it  not  so,  what 
would  become  of  me  ?  Happily  for  us,  *  the  covenant  is 
ordered  in  all  things  and  sure,'  and  it  is  not  left  to  our 
own  wisdom,  but  to  that  adorable  Agent,  the  Spirit  of 
God,  to  perform  that  good  work  which  He  hath  begun 
in  us.  ]\Iay  we  be  both  conformed  to  the  bright  image 
of  the  Redeemer,  especially  in  meekness  and  lowliness 
of  heart.  I  feel  for  you,  lest  by  a  fatal  comparison  with 
those  around  you  you  should  be  induced  to  lower  the 
standard  of  Christian  morality  in  your  own  practice. 
This  is  a  temptation  to  which  I  am  prone  even  here. 
But  let  us  remember  that  God  judgeth  according  to 
every  man's  work,  and  not  relatively.  He  marks  his 
secret  walk,  and  His  view  of  him  is  precisely  the  same, 
whatever  be  the  change  of  the  opinions  of  the  man  of 
himself,  or  of  others  concerning  him.  Let  us  then  walk 
in  the  Spirit.     .     .     . 

"  D has  heard  about  a  religious  young  man  of 

seventeen,  who  wants  to  come  to  College,  but  has  only 
;^2o  a  year.  He  is  very  clever,  and,  from  the  perusal 
of  some  poems  which  he  has  published,  I  am  much 
interested  about  him.     His  name  is  H.  K.  White.    .    .    . 

"  We  remembered  our  friend  Sargent  at  Mr.  Simeon's 
room  on  Thursday  evening.  Pray  that  I  may  have  true 
piety  and  fitness  for  my  work. 

"  Yours  ever,  Henry  Martyn." 


158  HENRY  MARTYN, 

To  THE  Same. 

''  St.  John's,  November  \%th,  1803. 
"  I  thank  you,  my  dear  Sargent,  for  your  prayers  on 
the  day  of  my  ordination.  1  rejoiced  to  think  that  many 
were  putting  up  to  heaven  for  me,  for  much  indeed  did  I 
need  them.  Neither  at  that  time  nor  since  have  I  been 
duly  affected  with  the  awfulness  of  the  charge.  The 
incessant  employment  of  sermon-writing  has  left  me 
little  leisure  for  quiet  consideration,  and  so  my  spirits 
have  been  greatly  depressed  the  last  three  weeks.  The 
four  sermons  I  have  preached  are  on  Job  xiv.  14,  John 
iv.  10,  Ps.  ix.  17,  Heb.  vi.  11,  two  of  them  at  Trinity 
Church.  My  Lolvvorth  congregation  is  about  one  hun- 
dred. Now  that  the  composition  of  sermons  will  become 
easier,  I  hope  to  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  ministry 
with  more  attention  than  I  have  yet  been  able  to  give. 
Time  and  prayer  will,  I  trust,  through  the  grace  of  (jod, 
remove  that  childish  thoughtlessness  which  attends  me 
still,   and  makes  me  feel  where   I  stand.     .     .     .     My 

conversations  with  have  been    attended   with  no 

small  advantage  to  me  in  the  way  of  wholesome  correc- 
tion. He  is  the  only  man  of  all  my  friends  here  that 
tells  me  the  truth  plainly,  and  so  is  the  only  one  who,  by 
lowering  my  pride,  eventually  promotes  my  sanctification 
and  peace.     ... 

"  As  you  have  read  law,  tell  me  your  opinion  of  him. 
He  is  rather  a  favourite  of  mine,  though  not  without  his 
faults.  It  seems,  by  what  your  friends  here  say,  that  you 
do  not  engage  with  sufficient  earnestness  in  your  worldly 
business.  I  hardly  know  what  to  give  as  my  opinion  on 
this  subject.     The  law  is  so  very  different  from  all  other 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESPONDENCE.     159 

pursuits  in  the  time  and  labour  required  for  it.  Yet,  on 
the  other  hand,  there  is  Sir  Matthew  Hale.  ...  I 
never  hear  a  word  about  the  missionary  business.  If 
you  see  Mr.  Wilberforce,  and  his  mind  is  not  too  much 
occupied  about  the  present  affairs  of  national  danger,  ask 
him  something  about  it. 

"  1  am,  dear  Sargent, 

*'  Yours  ever  truly, 

"H.  Martyn." 

To  THE  Same. 
'■^  St.  JoJm's,  January  ()th,  1804. 

"  I  heard  of  the  death  of  your  brother,  my  dear  Sar- 
gent, some  time  ago,  but  I  had  neither  inclination  nor 
leisure  to  write  to  you  immediately  after.  I  liope  the 
first  impressions  of  grief  are  now  somewhat  worn  away, 
but  that  you  retain  that  blessed  effect  of  sanctified  sor- 
row, a  tender  spirit,  which  to  me  at  this  time  appears  so 
desirable  that  I  could  be  willing  to  suffer  anything  or  do 
anything  to  obtain  it.  I  should  judge  by  your  account 
that  he  could  have  hardly  attained  the  age  of  moral 
agency,  and  so  we  may  hope  he  is  among  tliose  of  whom 
it  is  said,  'Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  I  trust 
that  the  melancholy  event  has,  in  answer  to  your  prayers, 

been  beneficial  to .     If  not  yet  in  the  degree  you 

could  wish,  yet  cease  not  to  pray  for  her.  But  how  can 
I  encourage  you  to  a  duty  in  which  I  am  so  languid  my- 
self, so  seldom  disposed  to  '  stir  up  myself  to  lay  hold 
upon  God '  ?  How  necessary  is  self-denial  in  this  as 
well  as  every  other  duty,  through  the  corruption  that  is 
in  us.  Sometimes  I  feel  the  most  ardent  and  stronjr 
resolutions  to  fight  manfully,  to  exert  all   the  powers  of 


l6o  HE.VRY  MARTYN. 

the  soul  unceasingly  in  mortifying  the  flesh,  but  these 
resolves  are  short-lived ;  sometimes  through  forgetfulness, 
sometimes  through  weakness,  I  find  myself  giving  way  to 
ever-craving  self-indulgence.     .     .     . 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  kind  interest  you  take  in  my  mis- 
sionary plans  j  but  unless  Providence  should  see  fit  to 
restore  our  property,  I  see  no  possibility  of  my  going 
out.  Most  probably,  after  all,  I  shall  be  settled  at 
Calcutta,  in  that  post  which  Mr.  Grant  is  so  anxious 
to  procure  some  one  to  fill,  for  by  this  the  pecuniary 
difficulties  which  attend  my  going  out  would  be  re- 
moved.    .     .     . 

You  told  me  some  time  ago  that  the  multiplicity  of 
business  which  would  attend  me  as  Mr.  Simeon's  curate 
would  leave  little  time  for  reflection  on  my  future  plans, 
and  truly  I  find  your  prediction  fulfilled,  for  the  compo- 
sition of  sermons  and  preparing  for  the  societies  confines 
the  hours  of  devotion  into  far  too  small  a  compass. 
Nevertheless,  I  have  found  my  spirit  disciplined  by  these 
more  active  parts  of  the  ministry,  so  as  to  perform  with 
willingness  those  duties  from  which  once  I  used  to 
shrink.     .     .     . 

"  Farewell,  my  dear  brother,  amidst  all  the  afflictions  of 
the  gospel,  and  truly  they  are  not  few,  we  shall  also  be 
made  partakers  of  its  consolations.  The  contemplation 
of  the  eternal  world  is  of  necessity  my  chief  happiness, 
and  yours,  I  hope,  by  choice,  for  though  this  world 
demands  your  attention  more  than  mine,  you  have  learnt 
to  give  it  its  right  value.  In  our  Father's  house  there 
are,  I  humbly  hope,  mansions  prepared  for  us,  purchased 
only  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  who  will  also  keep  that 
which  we  have  committed  to  Him  till  that  day. 

"  H.  M.» 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESPONDENCE.     i6i 

To  THE  Same. 

"  Lamorran,  August  6th,  1804. 

"My  dear  Sargent, — How  can  I  sufficiently  adore  the 
singular  benefits  of  God  to  my  family;  we  are  now 
brothers  and  sisters  for  eternity.  How  cheerfully  can  I 
now  go  forth  to  proclaim  the  glories  of  Him  who  hath 
done  so  much  for  us  ! 

"  Respecting  your  approaching  union  with  that  excellent 
lady,  I  have  nothing  to  add  at  present,  but  that  you  have 
my  prayers,  both  of  you  ;  and  particularly  does  it  seem 
to  me  a  necessary  petition  that  you  may  not  in  your 
mutual  affection  forget  the  Saviour.  May  He  Himself 
show  us  the  vanity  of  the  enjoyments  of  this  world ;  and 
instead  of  pleasing  ourselves  with  the  prospect  of  a  happy 
continuance  in  it,  let  us  contemplate  with  greater  satis- 
faction the  moment  of  our  departure  from  it. 


To  Miss  Grenfell. 

^^  Sej-ampore,  July  2,0th,  1806. 

"My  dearest  Lydia,— On  a  subject  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  my  happiness  and  future  ministry  as  that  on 
which  I  am  now  about  to  address  you,  I  wish  to  assure 
you  that  I  am  not  acting  with  precipitancy,  or  without 
much  consideration  and  prayer,  while  I  at  last  sit  down 
to  request  you  to  come  out  to  me  to  India. 

"  May  the  Lord  graciously  direct  His  blind  and  erring 
creature,  and  not  suffer  the  natural  bias  of  his  mind  to 
lead  him  astray.  You  are  acquainted  with  much  of  the 
conflict  I  have  undergone  on  your  account.     It  has  been 

M 


i62  HENRY  MARTYN. 

greater  than  you  or  Emma  have  imagined,  and  yet  not 
so  painful  as  I  deserve  to  have  found  it  for  having  suffered 
my  affections  to  fasten  so  inordinately  on  an  earthly 
obj  ect. 

"  Soon,  however,  after  my  final  departure  from  Europe, 
God  in  great  mercy  gave  me  deliverance,  and  favoured 
me  throughout  the  voyage  with  peace  of  mind,  indiffer- 
ence about  all  worldly  connections,  and  devotedness  to 
no  object  upon  earth  but  the  work  of  Christ.  I  gave  you 
up  entirely — not  the  smallest  expectation  remained  in 
my  mind  of  ever  seeing  you  again  till  we  should  meet  in 
heaven ;  and  the  thought  of  this  separation  was  the  less 
painful  from  the  consolatory  persuasion  that  our  own 
Father  had  so  ordered  it  for  our  mutual  good.  I  con- 
tinued from  that  time  to  remember  you  in  my  prayers 
only  as  a  Christian  sister,  though  one  very  dear  to  me. 
On  my  arrival  in  this  country  I  saw  no  reason  at  first  for 
supposing  that  marriage  was  advisable  for  a  missionary — 
or  rather  the  subject  did  not  offer  itself  to  my  mind. 
The  Baptist  missionaries  indeed  recommended  it,  and 
Mr.  Brown ;  but  not  knowing  any  proper  person  in  this 
country,  they  were  not  very  pressing  upon  the  subject, 
and  I  accordingly  gave  no  attention  to  it.  After  a  very 
short  experience  and  inquiry  afterwards,  my  own  opin- 
ions began  to  change  ;  and  when  a  few  weeks  ago  we 
received  your  welcome  letter  and  others  from  Mr.  Simeon 
and  Colonel  Sandys,  both  of  whom  spoke  of  you  in  refer- 
ence to  me,  I  considered  it  even  as  a  call  from  God  to 
satisfy  myself  concerning  His  will.  From  the  account 
which  Mr.  Simeon  received  of  you  from  Mr.  Thomason, 
he  seemed  in  his  letter  to  me  to  regret  that  he  had  so 
strongly  dissuaded  me  from  thinking  about  you  at  the 
time  of  my  leaving  England.     Colonel  Sandys  spoke  in 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS  CORRESPONDENCE.     163 

such  terms  of  you,  and  of  the  advantages  to  result  from 
your  presence  in  this  country,  that  Mr.  B.  became  very 
earnest  for  me  to  endeavour  to  prevail  upon  you.  Your 
letter  to  me  perfectly  delighted  him,  and  induced  him  to 
say  that  you  would  be  the  greatest  aid  to  the  mission  I 
could  possibly  meet  with.  I  knew  my  own  heart  too 
well  not  to  be  distrustful  of  it,  especially  as  my  aftections 
were  again  awakened,  and  accordingly  all  my  labour  and 
prayers  have  been  to  check  their  influence,  that  I  might 
see  clearly  the  path  of  duty. 

"  Though  I  dare  not  say  that  I  am  under  no  bias,  yet 
from  every  view  of  the  subject  I  have  been  able  to  take, 
after  balancing  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  that 
may  ensue  to  the  cause  in  which  I  am  engaged,  always 
in  prayer  for  God's  direction,  my  reason  is  fully  con- 
vinced of  the  expediency,  I  had  almost  said  the  necessity, 
of  having  you  with  me.  It  is  possible  that  my  reason 
may  still  be  obscured  by  passion  ;  let  it  suffice,  however, 
to  say  that  now  with  a  safe  conscience,  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  Divine  presence,  I  calmly  and  deliberately 
make  the  proposal  to  you — and  blessed  be  God  if  it  be 
not  His  will  to  permit  it ;  still  this  step  is  not  advancing 
beyond  the  limits  of  duty,  because  there  is  a  variety  of 
ways  by  which  God  can  prevent  it,  without  suffering  any 
dishonour  to  His  cause.  If  He  shall  forbid  it,  I  think 
that,  by  His  grace,  I  shall  even  then  be  contented  and 
rejoice  in  the  pleasure  of  corresponding  with  you.  Your 
letter  dated  December,  1805,  was  the  first  I  received 
(your  former  having  been  taken  in  the  Bell  packet)  \  and 
I  found  it  so  animating  that  I  could  not  but  reflect  on 
the  blessedness  of  having  so  dear  a  counseflor  always 
near  me.  I  can  truly  say,  and  God  is  my  witness,  that 
my  principal  desire  in  this  affair  is  that  you  may  promote 


1 64  HENRY  MARTYN. 

the  kingdom  of  God  in  my  own  heart,  and  be  the  means 
of  extending  it  to  the  heathen.  My  own  earthly  comfort 
and  happiness  are  not  worth  a  moment's  notice.  I  would 
not,  my  dearest  Lydia,  influence  you  by  any  artifices  or 
false  representations.  I  can  only  say  that  if  you  have 
a  desire  of  being  instrumental  in  establishing  the  blessed 
Redeemer's  kingdom  among  these  poor  people,  and  will 
condescend  to  do  it  by  supporting  the  spirits  and  ani- 
mating the  zeal  of  a  weak  messenger  of  the  Lord  who  is 
apt  to  grow  very  dispirited  and  languid,  *  Come,  and  the 
Lord  be  with  you  ! '  It  can  be  nothing  but  a  sacrifice 
on  your  part,  to  leave  your  valuable  friends  to  come  to 
one  who  is  utterly  unworthy  of  you  or  any  other  of  God's 
precious  gifts  ;  but  you  will  have  your  reward,  and  I  ask 
it  not  of  you  or  of  God  for  the  sake  of  my  own  happiness, 
but  only  on  account  of  the  gospel.  If  it  be  not  calcu- 
lated to  promote  it,  may  God  in  His  mercy  withhold  it. 
For  the  satisfaction  of  your  friends,  I  should  say  that 
you  will  meet  with  no  hardships.  The  voyage  is  very 
agreeable,  and  with  the  people  and  country  of  India  I 
think  you  will  be  much  pleased.  The  climate  is  very 
fine — the  so  much  dreaded  heat  is  really  nothing  to  those 
who  will  employ  their  minds  in  useful  pursuits.  Idleness 
will  make  people  complain  of  everything.  The  natives 
are  the  most  harmless  and  timid  creatures  I  ever  met 
with.  The  whole  country  is  the  land  of  plenty  and 
peace.  Were  I  a  missionary  among  the  Esquimaux  or 
Boschemen  I  should  never  dream  of  introducing  a  female 
into  such  a  scene  of  danger  or  hardship,  especially  one 
whose  happiness  is  dearer  to  me  than  my  own ;  but  here 
there  is  universal  tranquillity — though  the  multitudes 
are  so  great  that  a  missionary  need  not  go  three  miles 
from  his  house  without  having  a  congregation  of  many 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESPONDENCE.     165 

thousands.  You  would  not  be  left  in  solitude  if  I  were 
to  make  any  distant  excursion,  because  no  chaplain  is 
stationed  where  there  is  not  a  large  English  society.  My 
salary  is  abundantly  sufficient  for  the  support  of  a  mar- 
ried man,  the  house  and  number  of  people  kept  by  each 
company's  servant  being  such  as  to  need  no  increase  for  a 
family  establishment.  As  I  must  make  the  supposition 
of  your  coming,  though  it  may  be  perhaps  a  premature 
liberty,  I  should  give  you  some  directions.  This  letter 
will  reach  you  about  the  latter  end  of  the  year.  It  would 
be  very  desirable  if  you  could  be  ready  for  the  February 
fleet,  because  the  voyage  will  be  performed  in  far  less 
time  than  at  any  other  season.  George  will  find  out  the 
best  ship ;  one  in  which  there  is  a  lady  of  high  rank  in 
the  service  would  be  preferable.  You  are  to  be  considered 
as  coming  as  a  visitor  to  ^Ir.  Brown,  who  will  write  to  you 
or  to  Colonel  Sandys,  who  is  best  qualified  to  give  you 
directions  about  the  voyage.  Should  I  be  up  the  country 
on  your  arrival  in  Bengal,  Mr.  Brown  will  be  at  hand  to 
receive  you,  and  you  will  find  yourself  immediately  at 
home.  As  it  will  highly  expedite  some  of  the  plans 
which  we  have  in  agitation  that  you  should  know  the 
language  as  soon  as  possible,  take  Gilchrist's  Indian 
Stranger's  Guide,  and  occasionally  on  the  voyage  learn 
some  of  the  words. 

"  If  I  had  room  I  might  enlarge  on  much  that  would 
be  interesting  to  you.  In  my  conversations  with  Marsh- 
man,  the  Baptist  missionary,  our  hearts  sometimes  ex- 
pand with  delight  and  joy  at  the  prospect  of  seeing  all 
these  nations  of  the  East  receive  the  doctrine  of  the 
Cross.  He  is  a  happy  labourer,  and  I  only  wait,  I  trust, 
to  know  the  language  to  open  my  mouth  boldly  and 
make  known   the  mystery  of  the  gospel.     My  romantic 


l66  HENRY  MARTYN. 

notions  are  for  the  first  time  almost  realized,  for,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  beauties  of  sylvan  scenery,  may  be  seen  the 
more  delightful  object  of  multitudes  of  simple  people 
sitting  in  the  shade  listening  to  the  words  of  eternal  life. 
Much  as  yet  is  not  done,  but  I  have  seen  many  discover 
by  their  looks  while  Marshman  was  preaching  that  their 
hearts  were  tenderly  affected.  My  post  is  not  yet  deter- 
mined ;  we  expect,  however,  it  will  be  Patna,  a  civil 
station,  where  I  shall  not  be  under  military  command. 
As  you  are  so  kindly  anxious  about  my  health,  I  am 
happy  to  say  that  through  mercy  my  health  is  far  better 
than  it  ever  was  in  England. 

"  The  people  of  Calcutta  are  very  desirous  of  keeping 
me  at  the  Mission  Church,  and  offer  to  any  evangelical 
clergyman  a  chaplain's  salary  and  a  house  besides.  I 
am,  of  course,  deaf  to  such  a  proposal ;  but  it  is  strange 
that  no  one  in  England  is  tempted  by  such  an  inviting 
situation.  I  am  actually  going  to  mention  it  to  cousin 
T.  H.  and  Emma.  Not,  as  you  may  suppose,  with  much 
hope  of  success,  but  I  think  that  possibly  the  chapel  at 
Dock  may  be  too  much  for  him,  and  he  will  have  here  a 
sphere  of  still  greater  importance.  As  this  will  be  sent 
by  the  Overland  Despatch  there  is  some  danger  of  its  not 
reaching  you ;  you  will  therefore  receive  a  duplicate,  and 
perhaps  a  triplicate  by  the  ships  that  will  arrive  in 
England  a  month  or  two  after.  I  cannot  write  now  to 
any  of  my  friends.  I  will  therefore  trouble  you,  if  you 
have  opportunity,  to  say  that  I  have  received  no  letters 
since  I  left  England  but  one  from  each  of  these — Cousin 
T.  and  Emma,  Simeon,  Sargent,  Bates ;  of  my  own 
family  I  have  heard  nothing.  Assure  any  of  them  whom 
you  may  see  of  the  continuance  of  my  affectionate  re- 
gard, especially  dear  Emma.     I  did  not  know  that  it  was 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS  CORRESPONDENCE.     167 

permitted  me  to  write  to  you,  or  I  fear  she  would  not 
have  found  me  so  faithful  a  correspondent  on  the  voyage. 
As  I  have  heretofore  addressed  you  through  her,  it  is 
probable  that  I  may  be  now  disposed  to  address  her 
through  you,  or,  what  will  be  best  of  all,  that  we  both  of 
us  address  her  in  one  letter  from  India.  However,  you 
shall  decide,  my  dearest  Lydia ;  I  i7iust  approve  your 
determination,  because  with  that  spirit  of  simple  looking 
to  the  Lord,  which  we  both  endeavour  to  maintain,  we 
must  not  doubt  that  you  will  be  divinely  directed.  Till 
I  receive  an  answer  to  this,  my  prayers,  you  may  be  as- 
sured, will  be  constantly  put  up  for  you  that  in  this  affair 
you  may  be  under  an  especial  guidance,  and  that  in  all 
your  ways  God  may  be  abundantly  glorified  by  you 
tlirough  Jesus  Christ.  You  say  in  your  letter  that  fre- 
quently every  day  you  remember  my  worthless  name 
before  the  throne  of  grace.  This  instance  of  extraordin- 
ary and  undeserved  kindness  draws  my  heart  towards 
you  with  a  tenderness  which  I  cannot  describe.  Dearest 
Lydia,  in  the  sweet  and  fond  expectation  of  your  being 
given  to  me  by  God,  and  of  the  happiness  which  I 
humbly  hope  you  yourself  might  enjoy  here,  I  find  a 
pleasure  in  breathing  out  my  assurance  of  ardent  love.  I 
have  now  long  loved  you  most  affectionately,  and  my 
attachment  is  more  strong,  more  pure,  more  heavenly, 
because  I  see  in  you  the  image  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  un- 
willingly conclude  by  bidding  my  beloved  Lydia  adieu. 

"  H.  Martyn." 


1 68    .  HENRY  MARTYN, 

To  THE  Same. 

^^  Seranipore,  September,  1806. 

"  How  earnestly  do  I  long  for  the  arrival  of  my  dearest 
Lydia.  Though  it  may  prove  at  last  no  more  than  a 
waking  dream  that  I  ever  expected  to  receive  you  in 
India,  the  hope  is  too  pleasing  not  to  be  cherished  till  I 
am  forbidden  any  longer  to  hope.  Till  I  am  assured  of 
the  contrary,  I  shall  find  a  pleasure  in  addressing  you  as 
my  own.  If  you  are  not  to  be  mine  you  will  pardon  me, 
but  my  expectations  are  greatly  encouraged  by  the  words 
you  used  when  we  parted  at  Gurlyn,  that  I  had  better  go 
out  free^  implying,  as  I  thought,  that  you  would  not  be 
unwilling  to  follow  me  if  I  should  see  it  to  be  the  will  of 
God  to  make  the  request.  I  was  rejoiced  also  to  see  in 
your  letter  that  you  unite  your  name  with  mine  when  you 
pray  that  God  would  keep  us  both  in  the  path  of  duty ; 
from  this  I  infer  that  you  are  by  no  means  deterinined  to 
remain  separate  from  me.  You  will  not  suppose,  my 
dear  Lydia,  that  I  mean  these  little  things  to  influence 
your  conduct,  or  to  implicate  you  in  an  engagement.  No, 
I  acknowledge  that  you  are  perfectly  free,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  you  will  act  as  the  love  and  wisdom  of  our 
God  shall  direct.  Your  heart  is  far  less  interested  in 
this  business  than  mine,  in  all  probability,  and  this,  on 
one  account,  I  do  not  regret,  as  you  will  be  able  to  see 
more  clearly  the  directions  of  God's  providence.  About 
a  fortnight  ago  I  sent  you  a  letter  accompanying  the 
duplicate  of  the  one  sent  overland  in  August.  If  these 
shall  have  arrived  safe,  you  will  perhaps  have  left  Eng- 
land before  this  reaches  it.  But  if  not,  let  me  entreat 
you  to  delay  not  a  moment.     Yet  how  will  my  dear 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESPONDENCE.     169 

sister  Emma  be  able  to  part  with  you  and  George,  but 
above  all  your  mother  ?  I  feel  very  much  for  you  and 
for  them,  but  I  have  no  doubt  at  all  about  your  health 
and  happiness  in  this  country. 

"  The  commander-in-chief  has  at  last  appointed  me  to 
the  station  of  Dinapore,  near  Patna,  and  I  shall  accord- 
ingly take  my  departure  for  that  place  as  soon  as  I  can 
make  the  necessary  preparations.  It  is  not  exactly  the 
situation  I  wished  for,  though,  in  a  temporal  point  of 
view,  it  is  desirable  enough.  The  air  is  good,  the  living 
cheap,  the  salary  ;^iooo  a  year,  and  there  is  a  large 
body  of  English  troops  there ;  but  I  should  have  pre- 
ferred being  near  Benares,  the  heart  of  Hindooism.  We 
rejoice  to  hear  that  two  other  brethren  are  arrived  at 
Madras  on  their  way  to  Bengal,  sent,  I  trust,  by  the 
Lord  to  co-operate  in  overturning  the  kingdom  of  Satan 
in  these  regions.  They  are  Corrie  and  Parsons,  both 
Bengal  chaplains.  Their  stations  will  be  Benares  and 
Moorshedabad,  one  on  one  side  of  me,  and  the  other  on 
the  other.  There  are  also  now  ten  Baptist  missionaries 
at  Serampore.     Surely  good  is  intended  for  this  country  ! 

Captain  Wickes,  the  good  old  Captain  Wickes  who 
has  brought  out  so  many  missionaries  to   India,  is  now 

here.   He  reminds  me  of  Uncle  S .    I  have  been  just 

interrupted  by  the  blaze  of  a  funeral  pile  within  a  hun- 
dred yards  of  my  pagoda.  I  ran  out,  but  the  wretched 
woman  had  consigned  herself  to  the  flames  before  1 
reached  the  spot,  and  I  saw  only  the  remains  of  her  and 
her  husband.  O  Lord,  how  long  shall  it  be  ?  Oh,  I 
shall  have  no  rest  in  my  spirit  till  my  tongue  is  loosed  to 
testify  against  the  devil,  and  deliver  the  message  of  God 
to  these  his  unhappy  bond-slaves.  I  stammered  out 
something  to  the  wicked  Brahmins  about  the  judgments 


170  HENRY  MARTYJSr. 

of  God  upon  them  for  the  murder  they  had  just  com- 
mitted, but  they  said  it  was  an  act  of  her  own  free  will. 
Some  of  the  missionaries  would  have  been  there,  but 
they  are  forbidden  by  the  governor-general  to  preach  to 
the  natives  in  the  British  territory.  Unless  this  prohibi- 
tion is  revoked  by  an  order  from  home  it  will  amount  to 
a  total  suppression  of  the  mission. 

"  I  know  of  nothing  else  that  will  give  you  a  further 
idea  of  the  state  of  things  here.  The  two  ministers  con- 
tinue to  oppose  my  doctrines  with  unabated  virulence, 
but  they  think  not  that  they  fight  against  God.  My  own 
heart  is  at  present  cold  and  slothful.  Oh  that  my  soul 
did  burn  with  love  and  zeal !  Surely,  were  you  here  I 
should  act  with  more  cheerfulness  and  activity,  with  so 
bright  a  pattern  before  me.  If  Corrie  brings  me  a  letter 
from  you,  and  the  fleet  is  not  sailed,  which,  however,  is 
not  likely,  I  shall  write  to  you  again.  Colonel  Sandys 
will  receive  a  letter  from  me  and  Mr.  Brown  by  this 
fleet.  Continue  to  remember  me  in  your  prayers  as  a 
weak  brother.  I  shall  always  think  of  you  as  one  to  be 
loved  and  honoured. 

**  H.  Martyn." 

To  THE  Rev.  D.  Brown. 

"  Dtfiapore^  Dece?nber  ^rdf  iZo6. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — From  a  solitary  walk  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  I  had  just  returned  to  my  dreary  rooms,  and, 
with  the  reflection  that  just  at  this  time  of  the  day  I 
could  be  thankful  for  a  companion,  was  taking  up  the 
flute  to  remind  myself  of  your  social  meetings  in  worship, 
when  your  two  packages  of  letters,  which  had  arrived  in 
my  absence,  were  brought  to  me.     For  the  contents  of 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS  CORRESPONDENCE.     171 

them,  all  I  can  say  is,  '  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and 
all  that  is  within  me  bless  His  holy  name ! '  The  arrival 
of  another  dear  brother,  and  the  joy  you  so  largely  par- 
take of  in  fellowship  with  God  and  with  one  another, 
act  as  a  cordial  to  my  soul.  They  show  me  what  I  want 
to  learn — that  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth,  and 
that  they  that  keep  the  faith  of  Jesus  are  those  only 
whom  God  visits  with  His  strong  consolations.  I  want 
to  keep  in  view  that  our  God  is  the  God  of  the  whole 
earth,  and  that  the  heathen  are  given  to  His  exalted  Son, 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a  possession. 

**  I  have  now  made  my  calls  and  delivered  my  letters, 
and  the  result  of  my  observations  upon  whom  and  what 
I  have  seen  is  that  I  stand  alone.  Not  one  voice  is 
heard  saying,  *  I  wish  you  good  luck  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord ; '  not  one  kind  thought  towards  me  for  the  truth's 
sake.  Sunday  morning,  by  the  General's  order,  the  men 
were  ordered  to  attend  at  one  of  the  barracks,  where  the 
only  article  of  ecclesiastical  furniture  was  a  long  drum. 
On  this  I  read  prayers,  but  as  there  was  no  seat  for  any 
one,    I  was  desired  not  to  detain  them  by  a  sermon. 

Monday  I  went  without  any  introduction  to  Mr.  G , 

and  by  the  influence  of  your  name,  found  a  very  kind  re- 
ception. I  spent  the  day  with  him  very  agreeably,  talking 
about  Persian,  Hindustani,  etc.,  but  chiefly  about  re- 
ligion. He  evidently  did  not  speak  about  it  merely  in 
compliment  to  me,  for  many  times  he  chose  the  subject 
himself.  He  made  me  a  present  of  his  works,  promises 
to  get  a  good  pundit ;  and,  what  is  best  of  all,  has  almost 
engaged  to  undertake  a  Persian  translation  of  the  New 
Testament. 

"  I  have  found  out  two  schools  at  Dinapore.     The 


172  HENRY  MARTYN. 

masters  have  waited  on  me  with  specimens  of  their  Nagree 
writing — the  Devu  Nagree  tracts  they  could  not  read  at 
all,  the  common  Nagree  of  the  Testament  they  could 
make  out  pretty  well.  I  shall  set  on  foot  one  or  two 
schools  here  without  delay,  and  by  the  time  the  scholars 
are  able  to  read  we  can  get  books  ready  for  them. 

"Since  I  began  this  letter  I  have  been  chiefly  thinking 
of  Hannah.  You  have,  indeed,  good  reason  for  suppos- 
ing that  God  hath  loved  her.  Dear  child  !  if  she  should 
be  at  this  time  taken  to  His  glory,  I  could  almost  envy 
her  lot  in  being  removed  from  a  world  of  sin  and  sorrow 
so  soon.  Give  my  love  to  her ;  I  hope  we  shall  see 
together  that  great  and  glorious  day  which  Jesus  has 
made. 

"  I  hasten  to  write  a  few  lines  to  each  of  my  brethren 
who  have  so  kindly  remembered  me,  and  therefore  I 
conclude.  You  do  not  mention  Mrs.  Brown  in  any  of 
your  letters.  I  do  not  know  why ;  I  am  sure  she  sends 
her  love  to  me. 

"  Believe  me  to  be,  my  very  dear  Sir, 

"  Yours  most  affectionately, 

'^H.  Martyn." 


To  THE  Rev.  Dr.  Corrie. 

^^  January  25M,  1808. 

"  Dear  Brother, — One  of  the  Hindustani  New  Testa- 
ments will  soon  be  ready ;  but  I  want  to  have  a  press 
here,  for  the  delay  of  having  everything  done  at  Seram- 
pore  is  insufferable.  There  are  few  things  I  regret  more 
than  not  having  learnt  how  to  print.  Before  travelling 
westward,  it  would  be  worth  while  to  go  to  Calcutta  to 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS  CORRESrONDENCE.     173 

learn  this  noble  art,  in  order  to  teach  it  wherever  we  go. 
Yesterday  we  had  the  last  of  our  church.  The  General 
says  I  must  only  read  the  prayers  for  the  future,  as  the 
men  cannot  be  kept  in  the  sun  for  more  than  half  an 
hour.  I  feel  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do ;  a  short  ser- 
mon I  must  give  them.  The  67th  is  expected  here  in 
ten  days.      I    have    been  employed  in  wTiting  Europe 

letters   to  and .     To   the   latter,    using   every 

argument  to  draw  him  to  India  j  advising  him  to  keep 
his  fellowship,  for  if  he  gets  married  it  will  be  impossible 

to  get  him  out  of  England.     I  have  not  heard  from  

since  I  know  not  when,  but  I  am  greatly  concerned  that 
he  does  not  give  his  mind  to  the  languages.     What  an 
awful  thought  may  it  be  to  all  three  of  us  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  such  cities  as  Patna,  Benares,  and  Moorshe- 
dabad,  that  thousands  are  perishing  with  a  light  close  at 
hand  !     But  while  we  are  seriously  preparing  and  con- 
scientiously redeeming  the  time  for  that  purpose,  we  may 
hope  to  be  free  from  blood-guiltiness.     Last  Sunday  I 
felt  greatly  fatigued  with  speaking,  and  for  the  first  time 
perceived  symptoms  of  injury,   by  pain  in  the  breast. 
Yesterday  it  returned  just  as  I  began  the  service,  and  I 
thought  it  impossible  that  I  should  go  through  all  the 
service  of  the  day,  but  the  Lord  helped  me.     Saturday 
evening  I  was  reading  the  ordination  services,  and  think 
they  are  some  of  the  most  affecting  things  I  ever  read. 
What  men  of  God  were  our  forefathers  1     Oh  may  I  learn 
in   the   same    school.       The    Lord   bless    you,    brother 
beloved,  through  Jesus  Christ. 

"H.  Martyn." 


174  HENRY  MARTYN. 

To  THE  Rev.  D.  Brown. 

^^  Dinapore,  January  ^oih,  1808. 

"  My  dear  Sir, — Sabat  to-day  finishes  St.  Matthew,  and 
will  write  to  you  on  the  occasion.  Your  letter  to  him 
was  very  kind  and  suitable,  but  I  think  you  must  not 
mention  his  logic  to  him,  except  with  contempt ;  for  he 
takes  what  you  say  to  him  on  that  head  as  homage  due 
to  his  acquirements,  and  praise  to  him  is  brandy  to  a 
man  in  a  high  fever.  He  loves  as  a  Christian  brother ; 
but  as  a  logician  he  holds  us  all  in  supreme  contempt. 
He  assumes  all  the  province  of  reasoning  as  his  own 
by  right,  and  decides  every  question  magisterially.  He 
allows  Europeans  to  know  a  little  about  arithmetic  and 
navigation,  but  nothing  more.  Dear  man,  I  smile  to 
observe  his  pedantry.  Never  have  I  seen  such  an  in- 
stance of  dogmatical  pride  since  I  heard  Dr.  Parr  preach 
his  Greek  sermon  at  St.  Mary's,  about  the  to  W. 

"  For  several  days  past  I  have  had  my  mind  full  of 
imaginations  about  establishing  a  press  in  my  house. 
The  reasons  are  many  and  strong  which  I  have  to  offer, 
but  as  you  will  probably  perceive  them  yourself,  I  will 
not  adduce  them  till  your  opposition  renders  it  necessary. 
But  favour  me  with  your  opinion  upon  it  as  soon  as  you 
can,  because  we  shall  soon  be  ready  for  printing. 

"  Mr.  G 's  late  appointment  seems  to  have  excited  in 

him  a  spirit  of  thankfulness  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  gifts. 
.  .  .  He  always  mentions  you  with  kindness,  but,  like 
most  other  people,  has  a  strange  prejudice  against  Dr. 
Buchanan.  On  his  removal  to  Bankipore,  he  promises 
to  come  and  stay  with  me.  His  library  is  most  choice ; 
every  article  in  it  is  most  interesting  to  me,  and  he  lends 
freely. 


'75 


S£Z£CrfOA'S  FXOM  ms  CORRESPONDENCE. 

"And  now  I  have  no  more  questions  to  ask  excent 
about  your  health,  and  that,  n,y  dear  sir,  is  a  ques  o„ 
hat  comes  from  my  heart.     Oh  n,ay  your  next  br  ^    me 
he  good  Udmgs  of  your  restoration  to  health  and  spnks 

irJnltuT„°'T"^'  '"^^^  ^°"^  ^P'"'^  sink«i,f;   " 
Strength,  but  His  love  changeth  not 

''We  wait  your  order  to  assemble  anywhere  to  receive 

Beheve  th,s  to  be  a  true  word  from  your  affectionate 

"H.  Martyn." 

To  THE  Rev.  Dr.  Corrie. 

"February  Zth,  iSo8. 
Dear  Brother,-This  week  I  believe  I  have  nothin<. 

liU ""^M  '  ''"■;  ''^^'""'"^  '^^^"^  -de,;!::,' inl 
will  occur.  My  mmd  is  just  now  much  occupied  with 
some  news  I  have  heard,  that  the  king  is  dead   Irelind 

lldtdL"'  '^"'''"'  '"^^'^'^'  ^  >arge%rench  for C'^hJ 
land  and  sea,  commg  to  India,  etc.,  if  any  etc  can  Z 
added  to  this.     We  deserve  it  all  fo   our  National  arro 

t:^Ti?T  'iT  ''^^"^"^'  '°  bringdownTehi^W: 
ness  of  the  terrible;  yet  I  trust  the  half  of  this  is  not 

served  by  the  Governor  and  council  since  the  arrival  of 
the  last  overland  despatch,  is  enough  to  alarm  the  p  bhc 
nnnd  Howwm  our  affairs  be  affected  by  it  L'  o  ^ 
{7  il  Not  at  an.  Our  Lord's  kingdom  is  n^tTf 
this  world;  only  we  shall  not  be  dressed  in  so  good  a 
coat,  and  perhaps  shall  trudge  about  without  a  palaCin 


176  HENRY  MARTYN. 

neither  of  which,  we  trust,  are  serious  afflictions  to  us. 
Also  the  Romish  missionaries  will  lift  up  their  head,  and 
the  Beast  triumph  for  a  season.  Oh  happy  our  lot  to 
have  a  blessed  heaven  above  for  us,  where  no  enemy, 
temporal  or  spiritual,  shall  disturb ;  and  a  Saviour  here 
to  whom  we  may  flee  and  be  safe  from  fears.  *  Thou 
art  my  habitation  whereunto  I  may  continually  resort' 
Mirza  made  his  appearance  unexpectedly  last  week,  and 
began  his  work  forthwith.  To-day  we  reached  Matt, 
xiv.,  and  in  a  month  I  expect  the  four  Gospels  will  be 
ready  for  the  press.  But  not  a  word  from  Calcutta  to 
say  whether  I  may  hope  to  be  favoured  with  a  press 
here.  To  print  myself,  is  become  a  hobby-horse  with 
me.  .  .  .  Sabat  continues  tolerable  in  health, 
though  often  interrupted  by  headaches.  He  wrote  a 
second  letter  to  the  Molwee  Sahebs,  at  Phoolwaree,  con- 
vincing them  from  the  Koran  of  their  unreasonableness 
in  not  arguing  with  him ;  to  which  they  replied  in  a 
Persian  letter  full  of  Galee.  I  advised  him  to  let  the 
matter  rest  there,  but  he  wrote  a  third  time,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  one  of  them  came  and  sent  a  note  from 
a  place  in  Dinapore  to  say,  that  for  the  sake  of  his 
descent  he  would  meet  him,  but  not  dispute,  except  with 
leai-Jied  men.  He  refused  to  meet  him,  and  smiled  at 
their  pretending  to  despise  his  learning.  Poor  Sabat's 
mind  is  a  little  hurt,  but  I  rejoice  that  his  pride  has  re- 
ceived a  wound.  He  is  thereby  drawn  further  from  the 
world,  and  nearer  to  the  Lord.  To-day  I  hear  one  of 
these  haughty  Mussulman  means  to  visit  me.  I  shall  see 
what  arguments  he  can  bring  for  the  support  of  his  filthy 
religion.  The  more  Sabat  and  myself  talk  and  read 
about  the  Koran,  the  more  he  is  amazed  .that  his  eyes 
were  not  opened  before;  and  I,  that  1,200  years  out  of 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS  CORRESPONDENCE.     177 

the  1,260  have  left  the  superstition  still  in  such  strength. 
I  had  a  conversation  last  night,  at  my  garden  gate,  with 
several  Brahmins,  but  I  have  forgotten  my  old  Hindoo 
words,  and  so  our  discourse  was  reciprocally  rather  dark. 
Before  I  attempt  speaking  in  the  villages  I  must  study 
the  Nagree  parables  again  with  some  attention.  And 
now  my  paper  is  done,  but  not  my  desire  of  communicat- 
ing with  you.  "  H.  Martyn." 

To  THE  Rev.  D.  Brown. 

^^  Dinapore,  February  12th,  1808. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  no  very  urgent  occasion  to 
write,  but  next  to  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  you  is  that 
of  writing  to  you.  .  .  .  My  first  question  is  about 
the  press.  May  I  not  have  one  here  ?  St.  Matthew  in 
Hindustani  is  ready ;  and  in  a  month  (D.V.)  the  four 
will  be  so.  The  Acts,  by  Mirza,  were  sent  by  him  to 
you,  he  says,  and  Dr.  Buchanan's  secretary  acknowledged 
the  receipt  of  it.     If  you  can  procure  it  from  Dr.  Hunter, 

a  month's  labour  will  be   saved.     For  Sabat,  Mr.  G 

will  provide  a  good  scribe ;  is  it  determined  whether  he 
is  to  be  allowed  one  or  not?  He  begins  to  be  a  little 
peevish  at  not  hearing  from  you,  as  he  suspects  that 
silence  may  be  the  prelude  to  denial.  Certainly  our 
Arabian's  natural  temper  is  as  bad  as  it  well  can  be ; 
but  he  fights  manfully  against  it.  If  in  any  of  our  dis- 
putes I  get  the  better  of  him,  he  is  stung  to  the  quick 
and  does  not  forget  it  for  days.  So  I  avoid  as  much  as 
possible  all  questions  gendering  strifes.  If  he  sees  any- 
thing wrong  in  me,  any  appearance  of  pride  or  tone  of 
grandeur,  he  tells  me  of  it  without  ceremony  ;  and  thus 
he  is  a  friend  indeed.  He  describes  so  well  the  cha- 
racter of  a  missionary  that   I  am  ashamed  of  my  great 

N 


178  HENRY  MARTYN. 

house,  and  mean  to  sell  it  the  first  opportunity,  and 
take  the  smallest  quarters  I  can  find.  Would  that  the 
day  were  come  when  I  might  throw  off  the  coat,  and 
substitute  the  jamer ;  I  long  for  it  more  and  more,  and 
am  often  very  uneasy  at  being  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
so  great  a  Nineveh  without  being  able  to  do  anything 
immediately  for  the  salvation  of  so  many  perishing  souls. 
What  do  you  think  of  my  standing  under  a  shed  some- 
where in  Patna  as  the  missionaries  did  in  the  Lat  Bazaar  ? 
will  the  Government  interfere? 

*'  What  are  your  sensations  on  the  late  news  ?  I  fear 
the  judgments  of  God  on  our  proud  nation,  and  that  as  we 
have  done  nothing  for  the  gospel  in  India,  this  vineyard 
will  be  let  out  to  others,  who  shall  bring  the  fruits  of  it  in 
their  season.  I  think  the  French  would  not  treat  the  Jug- 
gernaut with  quite  so  much  ceremony  as  we  do.    .    .    . 

"  The  Lord  graciously  preserve  your  bodily  health,  and 
fill  you  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  Christ  Jesus  !  So 
prays, 

"  Yours  ever  afi"ectionately, 

"  H.  Martyn.' 


To  THE  Rev.  D.  Corrie. 

^^  February  29///,  1808. 
"If  writing  to  you  were  not  agreeable  to  me,  I  should 
not  think  of  trying  to  fill  a  sheet  at  this  time,  for  my  eyes 
are  heavy  with  sleep.  We  are  all  ill  here, — Mirza, 
Sabat,  etc.,  and  to  the  inequality  of  the  temperature  we 
ascribe  our  ailings.  After  my  preaching  yesterday  my 
lassitude  was  so  great  that  I  could  scarcely  support  my- 
self ;  at  the  close  of  the  rains  my  sensations  were  the  same. 
The  General  had  not  given  orders  for  church  on  Satur- 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS  CORRESPONDENCE.     179 

day.  I  sent  to  inquire  whether  there  would  be  a  service 
or  no  ;  in  consequence  of  this  appHcation,  an  after  order 
was  issued,  to  the  no  small  disappointment  of  the  soldiers, 
who  were  enjoying  the  idea  of  having  no  service.    When 

the  order  came,   B says  they  vented  their  rage  in 

dreadful  curses  and  execrations  against  me,  for  they  lay 
all  the  blame  of  having  the  worship  of  God  on  me.  May 
I  be  always  chargeable  with  this  crime.  But  what  sort 
of  men  are  these  committed  to  my  care  ?  Alas  !  they 
are  men  of  whom  it  is  said,  that  their  heart  is  enmity 
against  God.  On  the  preceding  Sabbath  I  had  given 
them  one  more  warning  against  their  whoredom  and 
drunkenness,  and  it  is  the  truth  grappling  with  their  con- 
sciences that  makes  them  thus  furious.  When  we  do 
meet,  it  is  with  little  comfort,  as  you  may  suppose,  since 
1  know  that  by  far  the  greater  number  come  by  con- 
straint. Even  Sabat,  who  ought  to  be  a  comforter,  does 
by  his  unguarded  and  coarse  remarks  often  dishearten 
me,  for  he  says  he  does  not  like  the  public  worship ;  and 
were  it  not  that  he  is  afraid  he  should  be  suspected 
of  not  being  a  Christian,  he  says  he  would  not  come  at 
all.  He  complains  that  there  is  no  love  in  the  people, 
and  that  he  is  distracted  and  not  able  to  pray.  It  must 
be  confessed  that  from  the  scandalous  disorder  in  which 
the  Company  have  left  the  ecclesiastical  part  of  their 
affairs,  so  that  we  have  no  place  fit,  our  assemblies  are 
little  like  worshipping  assemblies.  No  kneeling,  because 
no  room,  no  singing,  no  responses.  Yet  a  judicious 
Christian  would  bear  with  all  these  things,  and  lend  a  hand 
to  counteract  them  as  much  as  possible.  But  Sabat,  yet 
young,  just  thinks  of  pleasing  himself.  But  through  the 
Lord's  love  and  mercy  I  do  not  much  need  the  help  of 
m^n.     I  feel  determined  to  combat  the  enemy  of  souls 


i8o  HENRY  MARTY N. 

in  every  form.  Yesterday  was  rather  a  happy  day  ;  text, 
*  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock.'  The  poor 
men  who  continue  to  meet  me  so  steadfastly  in  the 
evenings,  I  begin  to  think  are  really  in  earnest.  Another 
came  in  the  week,  confessing  his  sins  with  tears,   and 

desiring  a  hymn-book.     B is  made  the  butt  of  the 

wicked  men,  who  try  every  species  of  infidel  and  atheis- 
tical argument  within  their  reach  to  shake  his  faith.  At 
the  hospital  Baxter's  '  Saints'  Rest '  seems  to  cut  like  a 
sharp  sword.  The  men,  when  I  begin,  look  with  con- 
tempt, but  presently  their  high  looks  are  brought  low  by 
Baxter's  plain  home  arguments.  A  few  women  came  to 
my  quarters  yesterday.  The  explanation  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer  from  Luke  xi.  seemed  to  interest  them.  Saturday 
and  to-day  two  merchants  have  been  calling  on  me.  With 
each  of  them  I  discoursed  a  long  time  on  the  affairs  of 
another  world,  telling  them  '  Not  to  lay  up  for  them- 
selves treasures  on  the  earth.  One  of  them  said  these 
were  '  words  of  wisdom,  and  he  would  hear  me  further 
on  this  matter.'  Thus  we  go  on,  through  evil  report  and 
good  report.  I  have  been  reading  Sir  John  Chardin's 
Travels  into  Persia,  and  a  history  of  the  Turks.  I  read 
everything  I  can  pick  up  about  the  Mahometans.  The 
Lord  soon  destroy  their  detestable  dominion  !  But  we 
shall  soon  be  out  of  the  reach  of  all  evil,  where  the  wicked 
cease  from  troubling.  Let  us  continue  to  pray  for  one 
another,  brother  beloved,  that  we  may  be  faithful  unto 
death." 

To  THE  Same. 

''May  2nd,  1808. 
*'You  have  your  trials,  and  I  have  mine;  and  trials 
are  necessary  for  us  both ;  the  fall  of  one  among  few  is 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS  CORRESPONDENCE,     i8i 

very  cutting.  But  you  will  soon  have  more  to  supply 
his  place,  if  he  is  not  himself  restored.  My  greatest 
trial  is  Sabat,  he  spreads  desolation  here.  Mirza  is 
driven  to  Patna,  declaring  he  will  not  live  here  to  be 
insulted  by  Sabat.  My  Hindustani  work  is,  as  I  told 
you,  all  stopped.  My  scribes,  whom  Sabat  will  not 
allow  me  to  turn  away,  pass  all  their  days  without  any- 
thing to  do.  All  my  employment  now  is  to  compare 
Persian  with  Greek,  and  this,  if  it  please  God,  shall  be 
done  before  we  part ;  he  talks  every  day  of  going,  saying 
he  cannot  live  here  for  these  wicked  people.  Alas,  he 
little  thinks  of  his  wicked  heart  as  the  cause  of  all  his 
troubles.  He  still  holds  fast  the  diabolical  doctrine  that 
love  of  our  enemies  is  not  necessary.  Last  night  I 
preached  to  the  men  on  humility,  and  angered  him  much. 
I  intended  it  for  him,  he  said,  but  that  if  he  knew  more 
English  he  could  preach  infinitely  better.  Friday  morn- 
ing one  of  our  lieutenants,  breakfasting  out,  went  on  the 
top  of  the  house  in  the  middle  of  the  day  without  a  hat, 
and  while  he  was  looking  about,  a  stroke  of  the  sun  laid 
him  dead  in  an  instant.  That  night  I  buried  him,  and 
yesterday  preached  his  funeral  sermon.  The  heat  here 
is  terrible,  often  at  98°,  and  the  nights  almost  insupport- 
able. My  employment  every  day  is  very  great  now. 
Sick  and  dying  people  are  to  be  visited  at  the  barracks 
and  hospital.  Sabat  always  calling  me  to  the  Persian, 
etc.  But  the  Lord  helps  me  through.  I  hope  you  have 
received  the  parables.  Epistle  IL  of  Corinthians  is  also 
written  out  for  you,  but  I  read  it  before  I   send  it. 

"H.  Martyn." 


i82  HENRY  MARTYN. 

To  THE  Same. 

March  2'jth,  1809. 
"You  will  have  heard  that  I  am  ordered  to  Cawnpore  ; 
but,  by  the  General's  advice,  I  shall  apply  for  leave  to 
stay  till  the  rains,  as  I  do  not  think  that  I  could  support 
the  hot  winds  on  the  water.  My  expected  removal  has 
given  a  new  turn  to  my  thoughts,  and  produced  a  little 
dejection.  It  has  always  happened  hitherto  that  when- 
ever I  have  begun  to  feel  an  attachment  to  places,  per- 
sons, or  things,  of  a  merely  temporary  nature,  I  have 
been  carried  away  from  them..  Amen !  May  I  live  as  a 
stranger  and  pilgrim  upon  the  earth.  May  we  be  brought 
to  that  better  country  where  painful  changes  are  known 
no  more.     Every  blessing  attend  you. 

''H.  Martyn." 

To  THE  Rev.  David  Brown. 

Fatna,  March  28//;,  1809. 
"Dearest  Sir, — Your  letter  is  just  come.     The  Europe 
letter  is  from  Lydia.     I  trembled  at   the  handwriting, 
.     .     .     It  was  only  more  last  words  sent  by  the  advice 

of  Colonel    S ,   lest  the  non-arrival    of  the   former 

might  keep  me  in  suspense.  I  trust  that  I  have  done 
with  the  entanglements  of  this  world ;  seldom  a  day 
passes  but  I  thank  God  for  the  freedom  from  earthly 
care  which  I  enjoy.  I  long  to  see  Buchanan's  letter. 
You  chide  me  for  not  trusting  my  Hindustani  to  the 
press.  I  congratulate  myself.  Last  week  we  began  the 
correction  of  it.  Present,  a  Seid  of  Delhi,  a  poet  of 
Lucknow,  three  or  four  literati  of  Patna,  and  Baber  Ali 
in  the  chair;  Sabat  and  myself  assessors.  Almost 
every  sentence  was  altered.  I  was  amazed  and  mortified 
at  observing  that  reference  was  had  to  the  Persian  for 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESPONDENCE.     183 

every  verse,  in  order  to  understand  the  Hindustani. 
It  was,  however,  a  consolation  to  find,  that  from  the 
Persian  they  caught  the  meaning  of  it  instantly,  always 
expressing  their  admiration  of  the  plainness  of  their 
translation.  After  four  days'  hard  labour,  five  hours 
each  day,  we  reached  to  the  end  of  the  second  chapter, 
so  when  you  will  have  a  gospel  I  do  not  know.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  they  will  get  on  a  little  faster  when  they  are 
more  used  to  the  work  of  translation.  Baber  Ali,  who  is 
ambitious  of  the  name  of  a  learned  man,  thinks  his  own 
reputation  involved  in  this  work.  He  often  tells  his 
coadjutors  to  be  careful,  for  if  any  error  should  escape,  it 
will  be  said  they  do  not  know  their  own  language.  I 
find  I  have  very  little  to  do  towards  helping  them  out. 
The  Persian  is  another  Greek,  so  literal.  This  makes 
me  more  anxious  about  the  remainder  of  the  Persian, 
and  less  about  the  Hindustani.  It  is  a  delightful  con- 
sideration to  have  set  these  Indians  at  work  without  hire 
at  the  word  of  God,  for  their  own  eternal  salvation. 
Already  kings  are  becoming  nursing  fathers  to  the 
Church.  Baber  Ali  and  his  nephew  are  of  the  Soofi 
dynasty  of  the  kings  of  Persia,  and  Sabat,  you  know, 
counts  kings  in  his  pedigree.  I  was  about  to  say  that 
the  Euphrates  was  flowing  towards  you,  but  the  unex- 
pected departure  of  the  bungy  has  proved  a  dam  to  it. 
So  we  must  wait  till  next  Wednesday. 

"  Sabat   is   not  likely   to  come   down,  except   I  am 
ordered  away  from  this  place. 

"  Yours  ever  affectionately, 

"H.  Martyn. 

"I  am  ordered  to  Cawnpore,  as  you  will  know.     I 
mean  to  apply  for  permission  to  stay  till  the  rains." 


i84  HENRY  MARTYN. 

To  Rev.  D.  Corrie. 

''Oct  2>oth,  1809. 
"You  are  now  doing  my  work,  crossing  rivers  and 
traversing  jungles,  while  I  sit  quietly  in  my  bungalow, 
and  the  sweet  song  of  Zion  soothes  my  spirit.  Yet  I  am 
with  you  in  spirit,  and  lift  my  heart  to  God  to  keep  you 
in  all  places  whithersoever  you  go,  and  to  make  known 
by  you  the  savour  of  Christ's  name  in  every  place. 

"Yesterday  we  had  a  service  at  head-quarters.       I 
preached  from  the  Parable  of  the  Pounds  ;  on  the  accoun- 

tableness  of  man.     was  pleased  to  say  that  it  was 

a  very  good  sermon,  but  the  praises  of  men  of  that 
stamp  have  no  charms  for  me.  His  commendation  gave 
me  real  displeasure,  so  much  so,  that  I  believe  I  hardly 
concealed  my  chagrin.  Alas  !  thought  I,  the  sermon 
has  done  you  no  good,  it  has  not  made  you  uneasy.  At 
night  I  spoke  to  them  on  'Enoch  walked  with  God.* 
My  soul  breathed  after  the  same  holy,  happy  state.  Oh, 
that  the  influence  were  more  abiding  ;  but  I  am  the  man 
that  seeth  his  natural  face  in  a  glass. 

"H.  Martyn." 

To  THE  Rev.  W.  Clark,  Ben'et  College,  Cambridge. 
^'  Dinapore,  Novejiiber,  1809. 
"  My  dear  Friend, —  ...  I  could  willingly 
converse  with  you  a  little  on  some  part  of  your  letter, 
but  it  has  all  probably  passed  out  of  your  mind  long 
before  this.  Respecting  my  heart,  about  which  you  ask, 
I  must  acknowledge  that  H.  Martyn's  heart  at  Dinapore 
is  the  same  as  H.  Martyn's  heart  at  Cambridge.  The 
tenor  of  my  prayer  is  nearly  the  same,  except  on  one 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESPONDENCE.     185 

subject,  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  At  a  distance 
from  the  scene  of  action,  and  trusting  too  much  to  the 
highly-coloured  description  of  missionaries,  my  heart 
used  to  expand  with  rapture  at  the  hope  of  seeing 
thousands  of  the  natives  melting  under  the  word  as  soon 
as  it  should  be  preached  to  them.  Here  I  am  called  to 
exercise  faith,  that  so  it  shall  one  day  be.  My  former 
feelings  on  this  subject  were  more  agreeable,  and  at  the 
same  time  more  according  with  the  truth;  for  if  we 
believe  the  prophets,  the  scenes  that  time  shall  unfold, 
*  though  surpassing  fable,  are  yet  true.'  While  I  write, 
hope  and  joy  spring  up  in  my  mind.  Yes,  it  shall  be ; 
yonder  stream  of  Ganges  shall  one  day  roll  through 
tracts  adorned  with  Christian  Churches  and  cultivated 
by  Christian  husbandmen,  and  the  holy  hymn  be  heard 
beneath  the  shade  of  the  tamarind.  All  things  are  work- 
ing together  to  bring  on  the  day,  and  my  part  in  the 
blessed  plan,  though  not  at  first  exactly  consonant  to  my 
wishes,  is,  I  believe,  appointed  me  by  God.  To  trans- 
late the  word  of  God  is  a  work  of  more  lasting  benefit 
than  my  preaching  would  be.  But  besides  that,  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  my  strength  for  public  preaching  is 
almost  gone.  My  ministrations  among  the  Europeans 
at  this  station  have  injured  my  lungs,  and  I  am  now 
obliged  to  lie  by  except  on  the  Sabbath-days,  and  once  or 
twice  in  the  week.  .  .  .  However  1  am  sufficiently 
aware  of  my  important  relations  to  the  natives,  and 
am  determined  not  to  strain  myself  any  more  for  the 
Europeans.  This  rainy  season  has  tried  my  constitution 
severely.  The  first  attack  was  with  spasms,  under  which 
I  fainted.  The  second  was  a  fever,  from  which  a  change 
of  air,  under  God,  recovered  me.  There  is  something 
in  the  air  at  the  close  of  the  rains  so  unfavourable,  that 


x86  HENRY  MARTYN. 

public  speaking  at  that  time  is  a  violent  strain  upon  the 
whole  body.  Corrie  passed  down  a  few  weeks  ago  to 
receive  his  sister.  We  enjoyed  much  refreshing  com- 
munion in  prayer  and  conversation  on  our  dear  friends 
at  and  near  Cambridge,  and  found  peculiar  pleasure  in  the 
minutest  circumstances  we  could  recollect  about  you  all. 
I  seldom  receive  a  letter  from  Europe,  so  that  you  can- 
not do  me  a  greater  favour  than  to  write  and  mention 
all  our  common  friends.  I  remember  them  with  you 
always  in  my  prayers,  and  beg  the  continuance  of  yours 
for  me. 

"  I  am,  dear  Clark, 

"  Affectionately  yours, 

"H.  Martyn. 

^^  Nov.  i$f/t.    I  am  happy  to  say  that  by  the  goodness 
of  God  I  am  now  perfectly  recovered.'* 


To  Miss  Grenfell. 

*'  Cawnpore^  March  2,otk,  1810. 
"  Since  you  kindly  bid  me,  my  beloved  friend,  con- 
sider you  in  the  place  of  that  dear  sister  whom  it  has 
pleased  God  in  His  wisdom  to  take  from  me,  I  gratefully 
accept  the  offer  of  a  correspondence,  which  it  has  ever 
been  the  anxious  wish  of  my  heart  to  establish.  Your 
kindness  is  the  more  acceptable  because  it  is  shown  in 
the  day  of  affliction.  Though  I  had  heard  of  my  dear 
sister's  illness  some  months  before  I  received  the  account 
of  her  death,  and  though  the  nature  of  her  disorder  was 
such  as  left  me  not  a  ray  of  hope,  so  that  I  was  merci- 
fully prepared  for  the  event,  still  the  certainty  of  it  fills 
me  with  anguish.     It  is  not  that  she  has  left  me,  for  I 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS   CORRESPONDENCE.     187 

never  expected  to  see  her  more  on  earth.  I  have  no 
doubt  of  meeting  her  in  heaven,  but  I  cannot  bear  to 
think  of  the  pangs  of  dissolution  she  underwent,  which 
have  been  unfortunately  detailed  to  me  with  too  much 
particularity.  Would  that  I  had  never  heard  them,  or 
could  efface  them  from  my  remembrance.  But  oh,  may 
I  learn  what  the  Lord  is  teaching  me  by  these  repeated 
strokes.  May  I  learn  meekness  and  resignation.  May 
the  world  always  appear  as  vain  as  it  does  now,  and  my 
own  continuance  in  it  as  short  and  uncertain.  How 
frightful  is  the  desolation  which  death  makes,  and  how 
appaUing  his  visits  when  he  enters  one's  family.  I  w^ould 
rather  never  have  been  born,  than  be  born  and  die,  were 
it  not  for  Jesus,  the  Prince  of  life,  the  resurrection  and 
the  Ufe.  How  inexpressibly  precious  is  this  Saviour 
when  eternity  seems  near !  I  hope  often  to  communi- 
cate with  you  on  these  subjects,  and  in  return  for  your 
kind  and  consolatory  letters,  to  send  you  from  time  to 
time  accounts  of  myself  and  my  proceedings.  Through 
you  I  can  hear  of  all  my  friends  in  the  West.  When  I 
first  heard  of  the  loss  I  was  likely  to  suffer,  and  began 
to  reflect  on  my  own  friendless  situation,  you  were  much 
in  my  thoughts,  whether  you  would  be  silent  on  this 
occasion  or  no ;  whether  you  would  persist  in  your 
resolution.  Friends,  indeed,  I  have,  and  brethren, 
blessed  be  God  !  but  two  brothers  cannot  supply  the 
place  of  one  sister.  When  month  after  month  passed 
away,  and  no  letter  came  from  you,  I  almost  abandoned 
the  hope  of  ever  hearing  from  you  again.  It  only 
remained  to  wait  the  result  of  my  last  application 
through  Emma.  You  have  kindly  anticipated  my 
request,  and  I  need  scarcely  add,  are  more  endeared 
to  me  than  ever. 


i8S  HENRY  MARTYN. 

"  Of    your   illness,  my  dearest    Lydia,   I  had   heard 
nothing,  and  it  was  well  for  me  that  I  did  not. 
*'  Yours  most  affectionately, 

"  H.  Martyn." 


To  THE  Rev.  D.  Brown. 

"  Cawnpore,  April  yd,  1810. 

"  Dearest  Sir, — I  do  not  know  whether  my  spirits  were 
low  or  not  when  I  last  wrote  to  you,  but  this  I  know,  that 
I  need  not  go  so  far  as  Calcutta  for  occasions  of  sorrow. 
Everybody  would  suppose  Sabat  improved  ;  I  fancy  I 
see  the  worldly  principle  more  predominant.  Do  not 
tell  him  any  more  that  he  is  a  learned  man,  the  fact 
itself  begins  to  be  doubtful  to  me ;  but  however  that 
may  be,  it  can  only  tend  to  strengthen  his  abominable 
pride  to  tell  him  that  he  is  what  he  thinks  he  is. 

"As  you  will  not  part  with  Shalome  for  five  or  six 
months  yet,  we  shall  have  time  to  consider  of  the 
expediency  of  his  coming  to  me.  I  have  no  hope  of 
getting  anything  from  him,  when  all  the  versions  and 
Targum  of  the  Polyglot  are  insufficient  to  afford  me 
aid.     .     .     . 

"  Next  to  oriental  translation,  my  wish  and  prayer  is 
that  I  may  live  to  give  a  new  English  version  of  the 
Bible,  from  Job  to  Malachi,  and  after  that  to  lead  men 
to  search  for  the  principles  of  all  true  philosophy  in  the 
Bible. 

"  I  have  had  several  letters  from  England  this  week  of 
a  mournful  nature ;  my  long-lost  Lydia,  however,  con- 
sents to  write  to  me  again.  My  health,  through  mercy, 
is    very    well,   notwithstanding    all   my   vexations   and 


SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS  CORRESPONDENCE.     189 

fatigues.     My  church  is  almost  ready  for  the  organ  and 
the  bell. 

"  Old  Mirza  gives  me  more  satisfaction  than  any  one 
in  Cawnpore.    He  seems  to  take  great  pleasure  in  seeing 
an  intricate  sentence  of  the  Epistles  unravelled. 
"  Yours  ever  most  affectionately, 

"H.  Martyn." 

Our  space  forbids  the  insertion  of  several  most  in- 
teresting letters  written  during  Marty n's  journey  from 
India  to  Tabriz.  The  last  he  wrote  dates  from  Tabriz, 
and  is  addressed  to  Miss  Grenfell.  The  greater  part  of 
it  has  already  appeared  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  chap- 
ter, and  so  need  not  be  repeated  here.  The  last  sentence 
may  be  added,  as  it  touchingly  sets  forth  expectations 
never  to  be  realized  on  earth.  He  was  looking  forward  to 
a  meeting  with  her  to  whom  he  had  given  his  heart,  and 
whom  he  hoped,  after  a  season  of  delay  and  disappoint- 
ment, to  call  wife.  But  it  was  not  to  be.  Their  union 
was  not  to  be  perfected  here.  This  joy  was  reserved  for 
heaven.  In  this  world  they  never  met  face  to  face  again. 
But  they  have  long  since  met  in  the  world  where  part- 
ings are  no  more,  and  "in  super-eminence  of  beatific 
vision  have  clasped  inseparable  hands  with  joy  and  bliss 
in  over-measure  for  ever."  All  is  well  for  both,  and  they 
would  acknowledge  that  they  were  "  led  by  the  right  way 
that  they  might  go  to  the  city  of  habitation."  His  last 
words  to  her  in  this  world  were  these, — and  the  letter, 
written  from  Tabriz,  is  dated  August  28th,  181 2  : — 

"  My  course  from  Constantinople  is  so  uncertain  that 
I  hardly  know  where  to  desire  you  to  direct  to  me  ;  I 
believe  Malta  is  the  only  place,  for  there  I  must  stop  on 


I90  HENRY  MARTYN. 

my  way  home.  Soon  we  shall  have  occasion  for  pen 
and  ink  no  more ;  but  I  trust  I  shall  shortly  see  face  to 
face.     Love  to  all  the  saints. 

"  BeHeve  me  to  be  yours  ever, 

*'  Most  faithfully  and  affectionately, 

"H.  Martyn.** 


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